


Angel in Flames

by snowywolf7



Category: D.Gray-man, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen, I don't know what I'm doing, Manga Spoilers, Never used tags before, Violence, because it's the Hunger Games, weekly updates til complete
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-01-22 15:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 48,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12485152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowywolf7/pseuds/snowywolf7
Summary: Allen's Ark door and Road Kamelot's portal collide with a devastating result. Allen is thrown into the world of Katniss and the Hunger Games. With his kind heart will he be able to keep out of trouble? Follow the adventure of Allen Walker and Katniss Everdeen during the second book of the Hunger Games series Catching Fire. XPost.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I'm new to AO3 so I will be slowly cross-posting my stories from FF here. This is an older story (written in 2014) when I had very little (read: none) experience so please forgive any mistakes. Hope you can still enjoy the story 
> 
> I used "Catching Fire" (combination of book and movie) as my guideline but took some artistic license to incorporate Allen into the story line
> 
> Obviously I don't own anything D. Gray-man or Hunger Games.

What had once been a peaceful rural village had been turned into a grim battlefield. Innocents fled, blood, black and red both, swirled together on the cobble stone streets painting a macabre picture of death. In the darkened sky flashes of light and streaks of shadows crossed paths as Noah and Exorcists fought for control.

The scene of ruin and chaos only intensified when a red and black checkered door opened in the sky to admit two black and blonde haired twins with golden pistols in hand. Jasdero and devit joined the raging battle below.

A youth, no older than 15, cloaked in a cape white as snow and a intricate mask of silver and black danced precariously with a immaculately dressed man. Allen Walker slashed forward with his left hand transformed into a deadly clawed weapon meeting the Noah's dark matter with a clash of purple sparks. Tykki smiled gleefully at the exorcist before him feeling the trill of battle guide his hands, urging his blood lust.

All around the pair explosions shook the air threatening to obliterate the few standing structures of the town. He knew his fellow exorcists, Lavi, Lenalee, Kanda, and Krory were fighting somewhere close by. If the colorful curses were any indication the insufferable Japanese exorcist was holding his own. Allen spared a quick glance downwards at the devastation, his heart twisted at the thought of the wistfully ignorant residents shaken out of bed to flee like scurrying ants, and those who undoubtedly did not escape in time. Yet the boy could spare little thought for others as his own opponent closed in.

"Can you really afford to be distracted right now Shounen?" Tyki Mikk asked with an ear slitting grin.

The man's usually pristine suite was torn in places where Allen's Innocence had grazed him, and his top hat was missing yet he was otherwise unhurt. The Noah struck with blinding speed at Allen's chest aiming for his heart. Allen twisted in midair just in time to catch the ash colored hand with his own claws. Allen gave an almost apologetic smile.

"Sorry not falling for that again." Grabbing his left wrist with his right hand encased in his armored innocence, he pulled until his entire left hand had vanished to be replaced with a shining silver broadsword with a black cross set in the center. He swung his weapon in a broad arc putting distance between him and the still smiling Tykki. Allen knew that his countermeasure gained him only a small reprieve. The battle had been long and hard and the haze of exhaustion was beginning to creep into the edge of his vision. The steady spread of warm liquid from his side told Allen that the wound he had sustained previously was still bleeding.

Yet the couple second he bought was precious, it was a chance to assess the situation. A flash of green light striking down on a aqueous monster showed Lenalee keeping Lulu Bell busy. Somewhere to his right a cry of

"Hiban!" and the appearance of two flaming serpents showed Lavi was alive and well engaged with the manic Noah twins. But the fight wasn't going as well as Allen wished. One of the twins, Devit, dodged out of the way and landed a sucker punch to the red haired exorcist's gut.

Krory fluttered about with his cloak whipping in the wind as he did his best to keep up with Sheryl who fought with a crazed glint in his dark eyes, an inhuman grin splitting his face almost in half. Right behind the pair the moody Kanda swung his Katana with incredible accuracy and speed as he slashed through the volley of candles Road was hurling at him.

Directing his focus back to his own engagment Allen furiously blinked the black mist from his vision. His friends were counting on him, his family was counting on him. Lunging forward he locked weapons with the large black Tease that Tyki was now wielding in his hand. The grotesque mockery of a butterfly jabbered sickeningly inches away from the youth's face. Their cries carrying with them images of those flesh eating creatures erupting from Suman Dark's dead body. With a burst of rage Allen pushed Tyki back with surprising force knocking the man back.

Pushing his advantage Allen swung low to cut Tyki's legs out from under him but the Noah disappeared from the rooftop they had been fighting on straight through the solid bricks like water through earth. Allen tensed, waiting for his attacker to spring up from anywhere. Tyki reappeared directly underneath Allen grabbing his throat as he shot up. Allen gasped for breath shooting a band of silvery innocence onto the offending hand to pull it away allowing him just enough room to leap away.

The teen glared at his grey skinned opponent rubbing his throat in annoyance. How did a regular mission to retrieve Innocence become so complicated?

Allen recalled just a day ago they all stood in Komui's office as their superior told them that there was a possible sight of Innocence in a remote village in Southern France. He had left with his friends joking and relaxing on the slow train ride there.

They had expected there to be some Akuma at the village sent by the Millennium Earl to retrieve the Innocence before the Exorcist got there. What greeted them instead was Tyki, Road, and Lulu Bell soon joined by Sheryl, Devit, and Jasdero through a checkered door created by Road.

Of course there were plenty of Akuma already waiting for them there. Without even a minute to rest or time to collect their thoughts Allen and his friends were thrown into an all-out battle with the Family of Noah and their faithful Killing machines. The Black Order's only comfort was that the Millennium Earl himself hadn't joined the fray. They were in deep enough trouble as it was.

"Master please let me deal with this filthy Exorcist." A level three Akuma sneered at Allen. Tyki raised an eyebrow at the skeletal minion before smiling down at his favorite Exorcist.

"Have fun." He said in a disinterested voice. Allen turned on the Akuma immediately as his cursed left eye focused on the soul trapped in the Akuma. The tortured soul bonded to the killing machine screamed in grief and frustration as it was forced to commit wanton acts of destruction against its will. These were the pitiful spirits Allen committed his life to saving.

In seconds, waves of level-three Akuma had the lone exorcist surrounded launching spikes, acid, webs, and all manners of deadly objects.

Allen whipped Crown Clown's cloak around him protectively shielding him from most of the damage, but the force of the attacks still sent him sprawling across the cold stone floor below the house he was standing on. Sharp stones dug unforgivingly into his side, a stream of crimson liquid slid down his face. He spat out the iron state of blood that had filled his mouth.

The Exorcist jumped up into the sky clouded with the presence of Akuma and swung his Sword of Exorcism in a wide arc taking out four or five level-threes at the same time forcing the rest of retreat. A bold Akuma attacked with grey webs hoping to ensnare and end the life of its target. Allen skillfully navigated his way through the webs slashing his sword across the Akuma splitting it in half. He smiled as the soul nodded its thanks to him before vanishing into the dark night sky.

Another Akuma lunged at Allen. He raised his broad sword to block the attack but one of the Akuma's fellow shot strings from its wrist and pulled Allen's sword back leaving his front undefended. He only had enough time to draw up his cloak up partially to block the volley of punches coming at him at break neck speed. With one well-placed kick the Akuma sent Allen crashing down to Earth.

He fell through a roof before landing hard into a barn floor. He shook his head to clear the painful pounding that had been growing in the back of his skull. The haze had reappeared around his eyes. He blinked hard before hearing a soft cry. Shocked he glanced around the barn. There in the corner nestled in a pile of hay was a small girl covered in grit and dirt looking at Allen with tearfuleyes.

"Mama Papa. Where are they?" Her voice cracked with terror and despair. Allen knew with horrible certainty that this girl's parents were dead.

"Ready to die exorcist?" The horrible voice echoed from the humanoid shape of the monster's body. Allen smiled. A dazzling beautiful thing among all the carnage.

"Stay here. You'll be safe, they won't hurt you. I promise" He intoned. The girl nodded squeezing herself even more firmly into the barn corner.

Molten silver eyes locked with the monster above. Burning anger gnawing at Allen's stomach until it was ready to boil over. He couldn't let the pitiful slaves to the Earl hurt any more people. He would not let the trapped souls continue killing and suffering as they grew to hate themselves.

Swinging his sword in his right hand Allen leaped up to the Akuma plowing through their ranks. More lacerations, bruises, and burns covered his body as the monsters around him exploded back into the dark matter whence they came.

As another Akuma exploded before him Allen acknowledged for the first time how much red was stealing over his vision. An Akuma clad in red armor chucked in amusement and triumph.

"You are at your limit exorcist. I will be the one to kill you. The Earl will reward me most generously if I bring him the body of an exorcist." Allen grimaced shaking his head to clear it.

"Be at peace." He whispered. With a great push he shoved his sword through the Akuma's chest.

"It feels nice…" The Akuma said uncertainly. "Maybe this isn't so bad after all." Allen jumped back before it exploded in flames. A yell of pain escaped Allen's lips when a searing pain slashed across his back. He spun to face the smiling Tyki Mikk.

"You haven't forgotten about me have you? Shounen." The young exorcist gritted his teeth. This was bad. Allen knew he wasn't in any shape to pick up the fight with a freshly rested Noah, not after the injuries he had sustained from the other level-three Akuma. Suddenly at the edge of Allen's consciousness a familiar voice boomed out of Kanda's golem.

"Retreat, we can't win this battle and back up is too far away. Allen if you can hear me we need you to open a gate to the Ark so everyone can get back." The other exorcist headed Komui's message and the pulled back at once converging on Allen's location.

"Oi! Allen are you okay?"Lavi's concerned green eyes met Allen's silvery-gray ones as he reached his side first. "Can you still open a gate?" Allen nodded, too exhausted to give a verbal response. The Bookman gave a knowing look nudging his friend's arm in support before raising his hammer ready to defend his comrades.

Allen's partners covered him while he closed his eyes trying to push away the burning pain coursing through his veins. He recited the 14th's song in his head calling out a gate from the pure white Ark that would lead the exorcist away from the carnage of the battlefield to the safety of the black order.

"Oh, but we're not done here my dear." Came the childish voice of Road Kamelot. Her golden eyes were lit with a slightly crazed excitement. She summoned her own checkered door to counter the glowing gate that was forming right in front of Allen. The result shocked everyone on the field, Noah and Exorcists alike.

The two doorways merged into a swirling portal of darkness that pulled at Allen trying to suck him in. He cried out in alarm trying to use his crown belt to latch himself onto any kind of solid foundation to prevent himself from being pulled into the darkness, but it was no use.

His friends could only reach out uselessly as they tried to claim back their friend from the vacuum of darkness that enclosed Allen from all sides.

"Lavi, Kanda, Lenalee, Krory!" He cried as his friend's horrified faces shrank away until the world turned black.

Katniss sat huddled in a small ball next to the lake her father use to take her to for summer swims before he had died when he was working in the mines of District 12.

Death.

That seemed to be the only thing that filled her life right then.

She recalled the blood that pooled around the victims in the last Hunger Games claiming 22 young lives for the sake of television entertainment and to reinforce the control the Capitol had over the Districts. We can take your children and kill them, but you know that there is nothing you can do to protect them.

That seemed to be the message the Capitol shoved into their face every year as each district sacrificed one boy and girl between the ages of 12 and 18 to fight to the death in an arena.

A loud crash not too far from her jerked Katniss out of her negative thoughts drowning her mind, threatening to spill over in the form of tears.

She jumped in alarm, heart pounding and bow drawn ready to shoot her attacker. Spinning 180 degrees to see what had caused the noise she was surprised to find the face of her childhood friend and illegal hunting companion Gale staring back at her.

"It's just me Katnip." He said, concern mixed into his voice. When Katniss finally lowered her bow his gray eyes relaxed letting a small smile dance on his lips before he ruffled his own dark hair in amusement. "What did you shoot to cause such a large crash?"

Katniss quickly raised her bow and arrow again a wild look in her eyes.

"That wasn't me! I thought it was you." At this Gale looked worried and confused.

"If it wasn't you then…" His voice trailed off as he quickly sprinted after Katniss who was running as fast as her legs would carry her to the source of the sound she had heard moments earlier.

She saw a small clearing in the forest ahead and before she got close enough the figure lying on the floor seemed to slip something over his hands in response to hearing approaching footsteps. Katniss froze in her tracks when she saw what, or she should say who, caused the crashing sound. Her arms dropped to her side, her weapon falling with it.

"Katniss what the?" Then Gale froze too as he took in the strangeness of the situation.

"Who are you?" She asked the young boy with snowy white hair and a long red tattoo that started out as an upside down pentagram on his forehead, trailing down to curve along his cheekbone. He raised his head with considerable effort, it seemed as though he couldn't even sit up.

A small pool of blood was already starting to form around him as he answered with a small pained smile.

"My name is Allen Walker."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sees kudos, is shook* Thank you for reading and warming my little dead heart.

Gale carried the young boy they had found in the clearing on his back ignoring the crimson stain spreading through his already dirtied shirt as they made their way back to town.

Katniss took care to duck under the fence that separated the woods from District 12.

The fence was supposed to be electrified 24/7, but no one actually maintained allowing Katniss to sneak out with Gale to hunt wild game. Of course that was all before the Hunger Games.

Now she was a wealthy Victor with more money than she knew what to do with.

Gale gently lowered the boy and pushed him through the large hole under the fence.

"Who do you think he is?" He whispered softly in Katniss's ear making her cheeks redden slightly despite the freezing cold. She searched her mind,

"He's obviously from the Capitol, just look at his hair only the people in the Capitol do that to their body."

Her face contorted slightly at the thought of what the citizens of the Capitol considered fashion. Tattoos that covered their plastic surgery configured faces, and the most ridiculous outfits one could imagine to exist on the planet. It was rather revolting considering that one dress from the Capitol could probably feed an entire family in District 12 for a month.

The boy's clothing was odd, black jacket and pants with red trimming and high boots, but it didn't seem like the ridiculous frills and lace that covered the Capitols citizens clothing.

"But what would someone from the Capitol be doing in District 12 of all places?" Gale asked with a frown on his face. "With these kinds of wounds too." Katniss only shrugged in response just as confused as her friend.

"Sorry but you better take him from here." Gale said. Was Katniss imagining it or was there a hint of disappointment and sadness in Gale's voice. She shrugged it off.

"I don't think I should be seen in Victor's village, plus we don't want to be seen spending too much time together since we're cousins right?" He smiled at the lie Katniss had concocted about their relationship so the story that she and Peeta were star-crossed lovers wouldn't be challenged.

She nodded in understanding shifting her weight so she could move Allen onto her back.

She was alarmed at how much blood he had lost. If she didn't get him to her mother soon it might be too late. Katniss doubled her pace as she reached her beautiful house in Victor's village where she lived with her mother and younger sister Primrose. When she stepped through the door her mother greeted her hurriedly.

"Welcome back dear. How was your walk?" She asked quickly.

"Walk?" Katniss was mother knew she was out hunting with Gale so why? Then she noticed the man standing by the stairway that led upstairs and immediately understood. There were people from the Capitol in their house. Katniss heard her mother gasp.

"Who?" She asked pointing at the deathly pale boy hanging limply on her shoulder.

"I found him in an alley when I was on my walk." She lied smoothly. Katniss gently lowered Allen so they could support his weight equally and lift him onto the dining counter so her mom could inspect his wounds. The man from the Capitol raised an eyebrow at the odd scene.

"Help me get his coat off." She said. Her voice had changed to that of a healer, commanding and strong. Katniss admired this side of her mother. She had been in a daze after her husband had died, but whenever there was a person who needed her help she seemed to snap out of her trance and live up to the situation. Now the fire had returned to her eyes as she carefully removed the boy's shirt.

Katniss wanted to help, but the man from the Capitol stepped forward placing a hand on Katniss's shoulder. She tensed at this expecting a fight but he just said in a deep voice.

"This way please Miss Everdeen." She felt uncomfortable being ushered around her own home but followed silently as the man led her to the study room.

He waved indicating she should enter. As she eased the door open her breath seemed to catch in her chest so she had to gulp for air.

President Snow sat the desk waiting patiently for her with his fingers interlaced and an unnerving gleam in his eyes. He eyed her wearily as a snake might ponder how to kill the mouse already trapped in its lair. He waved her towards the wooden chair set up facing the desk. She sat stiffly.

"I think we'll make this whole situation a lot simpler by agreeing not to lie to each other," he says. "What do you think?"

Katniss was surprised when she answered in a steady voice.

"Yes I think that will speed things up." He gazed coldly into her eyes and she responded by sending him an equally cold and determined glare.

He explained in a monotone voice that sounded dangerously detached about the situation in the other district.

Katniss kept her face as blank as possible as she heard about the dissent spreading through the various district that viewed her trick in the previous Hunger Games as an act of defiance against the Capitol.

"If a girl from District 12 of all places can defy the might of the Capitol without any consequences then what is to stop them from rising up? What is to prevent let's say…" His gaze locked with hers, and an intensity she hadn't seen before now burned in his eyes. "A revolution?"

"Must be a delicate system if a small handful of berried can bring it down." Katniss was surprised at the words that came tumbling out of her mouth. President Snow surveyed her with a calculated gaze.

"It is delicate, but not in the way you might think. Will you Katniss Everdeen the girl on fire stop an uprising that would leave thousand dead and a collapsed country that can't support itself? Will you show the District that you are nothing more than a tame pet of the Capitol?"

She gritted her teeth, anger welling up in her chest making her wanting to snap back rashly, but instead she took a deep breath and answered.

"I'll convince them, I'll make sure they believe our love story and we weren't going against the Capitol." President Snow shook his head.

"No Miss Everdeen. Convince me."

With that he waved his hand in a clear dismissal. She turned abruptly to leave, anything to get out of that stifling room.

"Miss Everdeen one last thing." Katniss froze one hand resting on the cold metal doorknob. "You're not doing Gale Hawthorne any favors by spending time together with him." Of all the things that President Snow could have said to shake her that did it.

She spun to face him.

"Don't hurt him. He's my friend nothing more." He raised an eyebrow.

Before he could respond she charged out of the room meeting the startled gaze of her mother who had brought tea and cookies. The delicate swirls on the cookies indicated that they were made by Peeta who could paint the most beautiful designs on canvases and pastries alike.

"I'm fine." Katniss said quickly answering the unasked question. "The president visits the Victors before they give their victory tour, it's just formalities." When had she become such a natural liar.

Her mother's face lit up in relief.

Katniss sat on a chair contemplating the white haired boy who still lay unconscious on their table. His breaths seemed to have evened out to a deep steady rhythm rather than the shallow ragged gasps they were before.

With his shirt removed Katniss could see that his left arm was completely black from his shoulder all the way down to his hand which had a green cross design imbedded into the back. Some swirl and spike designs decorated his shoulder. The odd appearance of his arm only confirmed her earlier suspicion that the boy was from the Capitol.

She straightened when she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and didn't relax when she saw it was President Snow on his way out with his body guards close behind. He raised his white eyebrow at the teen laying on his stomach with the left side of his face turned up so his red tattoo and extensive bandages covering most of his upper body was revealed.

Katniss was surprised to see confusion, shock, then concern flash across the president's face, but she quickly dismissed it to her imagination when his face returned to the cold uncaring mask that was his usual expression.

Without so much as a word of farewell he stepped out into the cold wintry air.

Allen let out a small groan of pain as his mind finally floated back to consciousness. He could feel the hard wooden surface of the table pressing against his stomach, and the soft bandages that covered the worst of his wounds. His back felt surprisingly good considering the long gash he was sure was there from Tyki Mikk's attack.

A middle aged woman rushed to his side as soon as he let out the small sound that signaled his awakening. She quickly checked his temperature and asked something that Allen couldn't make out in his daze.

With a jolt of surprise and fear he realized he was shirtless and that the women could see his deformed arm. She must have thought that he was a cursed devil's child just as everyone else who had laid eyes on his arm before. To his surprise she lowered her face to his and whispered softly.

"Don't worry your safe. Please rest." She smiled slightly at him before rushing off to what seemed to be her kitchen. A loud noise like a train whistling came from outside the house causing a flash of pain in Allen's already pounding head.

"That must be the prep team." A voice sounded.

Allen lifted his head to see a girl that looked around his age standing in the door way. She had olive skin, gray eyes, and long black hair she had curled on her head held in place by a few clippers still dripping droplets of water like she just came out from the shower. She seemed surprised when she saw him looking at her.

"You're awake." She said. "Sorry I'll talk to you later, I need to go get chewed out by my prep team about how I destroyed their master piece." She sighed in exasperation as she examined her nails which she seemed to have chewed to small stumps. Allen would have cried out in surprise if he had the energy to do so when two people that resembled brightly colored birds fluttered into the house. The first women had pointed aqua colored hair, and gold tattoos that curled around eyebrows and extended around her eyes.

"Your eyebrows!" She screeched right off the bat.

"Venia." The girl greeted. The second woman who entered was if possible even more shocking then the first. Her plump figure was not only covered in clothing as ridiculous and frilly as the first woman's but her skin was green.

It reminded Allen of the poor victims of Komui's potions that hadn't been fully tested by the science division.

He couldn't help but feel that the two women made him look almost normal. "Octavia, it's nice to see you again." The green skinned women dubbed Octavia hugged the girl with enthusiasm.

"What did you do to your nails Katniss." The girl apparently named Katniss blushed slightly and pulled her hand out of Octavia's grasp.

"Sorry, I tried to restrain myself." The last man stepped in making Allen's eyes to go wide again. He had bright orange hair that bounced around his head in tight corkscrew curls. "Flavius I see your all here. Where is Cinna." Katniss asked.

"He'll get to you after we're done with the basics." He said examining Katniss as if she was a particularly interesting painting that he needed to touch up.

They usher Katniss off upstairs without even noticing Allen's half-conscious body still lying on the table trying to decide if what he saw was real or a hallucinations caused by his injuries.


	3. Chapter 3

Katnis stood frozen with shock and terror. The image of the old man who had saluted her lying on the hard stone floor. Blood oozing from the gunshot wound the Peacekeeper had put in the back of his head seared into her mind's eye.

Haymitch was dragging her away from the doorway of the Justice building up some non-descript stair case. Soon she was in a dusty attic that clearly hadn't been used in decades with Peeta shouting something at Haymitch.

"President Snow came to my house Peeta." She found herself whispering hoarsely. He stared at her, eyes wide with surprise and horror. "He said that there were riots in the districts and that they don't believe our love story. We have to make them believe us or Snow is going to kill everyone."

Peeta just gaped at her.

"And when were you going to tell me this Katniss?" He shouted.

"I didn't know what to do, I thought he was going to kill my family." She pleaded.

"Well I have people I need to protect too. I have a family too." His voice was strained now. "I just tried to give the fallen tributes our winnings…" He graoned running his fingers through his perfectly styled hair.

"That's a sign of defiance against the capitol." His voice was barely more than a whisper but Katniss knew what he meant. Instead of cooling down the fires of rebellion they had just added more fuel.

"It's my fault." Katniss said as if it was a fact.

"Look." Haymitch finally spoke. "You have to be in love do you understand? As far as everyone in the other districts and Capitol are concerned you too are just dumb love-struck teenagers got it? This isn't a game, this is your life. You two are mentors now, which means that every year your private lives becomes the public entertainment of everyone in Panem for all the Hunger Games from this year on."

Katniss nodded numbly before quietly leaving the room where she would have to put on a fake smile for the cameras and pretend that a man hadn't been killed because of her stupidity.

Allen stood shell-shocked in front of the screen that seemed to broadcast live images from faraway places the same way Timcanpy showed projection from his mouth.

An old man, dragged onto the stone stage by men in white uniforms and shot, just like that. Allen had been awake and recovering for a couple days. Long enough to know that he was no longer in his world of Exorcist and Akuma but in a foreign land where different terrors ruled the people's lives.

The combined distortion of space from the ark and Road's door must have caused him to land in a completely different dimension. He had been watching the screen absent mindedly trying to think of ways to return home when a gunshot from the television and a horrified gasp from Katniss's mother had shaken him out of his thoughts.

Timcanpy had finally revealed himself after a couple days and was now chewing Allen's hair nervously sensing that his master was upset. How could they shoot a defenseless man like that when he hadn't committed any crime? Allen's thoughts were raging and seething when a soft voice came from the doorway.

It was Prim, Allen had come to know the young girl from the couple days he had been wondering around their house and learned that she was kind hearted girl. She looked scared, not because of what was happening on the screen but because of the dangerous look on Allen's face. He made a conscious effort to relax his features back into a smile.

Prim's small stature, fair skin, and blond hair made her look like a small angel, but her face was fearful and her blue eyes reflected the truth that Prim was familiar with the horrors of life despite her age. Allen sighed.

The next few days Allen watched as Katniss and her boyfriend make appearances in all the Districts that were in this country (there seemed to 12). They smiled, waved, made speeches, and in District 1 the boy Peeta even pulled out a ring and proposed. The act was good, but not anywhere near good enough to deceive Allen's well trained eyes.

The small twitch in their fingers when they held hands, and the hesitation and fear in their eyes as they kissed for the camera made it clear as day to Allen that these two people cared for each other but certainly weren't the star-crossed lovers they were being made out to be on television.

Katniss watched with an odd sense of relief as Snow gave his head a small shake. At least she knew that whatever she might have done or could do wasn't going to be enough. Whatever the Capitol might do to suppress her it didn't matter anymore. She would just be herself from now on. It was over she didn't need to pretend anymore, and she would be heading home the next day.

The victory tour would be over. It was all over.

Allen put on a long jacket with a hood to conceal his distinct white hair and gloves to hide his left hand before leaving the house with Katniss's family to greet her at the train station when she returned.

Much to Timcanpy's disappointment he had been told to stay home as not to attract attention from others. Allen was told that there would be a harvest festival held by the mayor and that it would also celebrate the last stop of Katniss's victory tour. Multiple times when Allen asked victory tour for what he just got a sideways glance like he was asking an obvious and insensitive question so he dropped the subject.

He would ask Katniss though when he got a chance.

Katniss's eye's widened as she recognized a face under a hooded jacket next to her mother's and Prims. She waved and smiled slowly working her way back toward her family.

"I see you've recovered." She whispered in his ear.

He gave her a small polite bow.

"Thanks to your mother's excellent care Miss Everdeen. It's nice to meet you huh… officially. Thanks for saving me in the forest." She was surprised to be addressed so formally by the boy and it reminded her too much of the way President Snow spoke to her.

"Just Katniss is fine." She said.

"Thank you then Katniss." He said with a wide smile. Even though his face radiated innocent cheer there was something wrong, something off about that curve of his lips. As the festival continued and she was dragged off to meet important people and kiss Peeta for the cameras, but her eyes never left the odd boy who mingled silently giving occasional polite nods and smiles at passersby. Later she would realize his smile was the same one she flashed in front of cameras.

It was weeks before Allen was able to persuade Katniss to tell him about the country and the Hunger Games. She was friendly but distrustful and weary around strangers. It wasn't until the young boy's presence in the household became a natural part of their day that Katniss had relaxed somewhat. Allen sat on a chair inside Katniss's bedroom listening silently to her story of the Hunger Games patiently waiting for the moments where she had to slow down and take a break.

He kept his face carefully blank so that his horror, pity, and anger wouldn't show. His incomprehension at the willing slaughter of children never once showed on his face.

The Exorcists were young but they fought for a purpose, to stop the Earl. Allen had made a promise to Mana that he would never stop walking. He would protect humans with his right hand and Akuma with his left, that was the promise he made to himself.

He wanted to do something, to fight back somehow but this world wasn't his own, and this wasn't his war. He couldn't get involved. Allen's job was to get back to the world he belonged to, but at the moment he was clueless as to how he was going to do that.

He had already tried to open a door to the Ark but it had failed much to his frustration. He was feeling a similar frustration now but for a different reason. He was stuck here without being able to do anything for these people. Katniss finished her narrative, her voice trailing oddly flat when she described her realization that nothing she could do would please Snow.

"You turn." She said.

For a moment Allen wasn't sure what she meant, but then it hit him. Of course she would want to hear his story. She deserved as much considering that she had shared something she hadn't even shared with her family with a complete stranger. Allen had to wonder why she trusted him at all.

He was surprised when she agreed to speak with him privately, and even more surprised that when he asked her quietly if she was willing to tell him about her world and the Games she agreed. He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat and stretched Tim's face trying to think of where to start. (Katniss had been curious about Tim, but Allen lied and explained that he was an invention of a friend of his).

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but the truth is I don't belong here." She snorted.

"Like any of us are meant to be here. In this place you can hardly call what we're doing living."

"No. I mean I don't belong in this world. I come from somewhere else where there is no Hunger Games and people live very differently from all this." He waved vaguely around her house. Katniss looked at him thoughtfully as if she was trying to imagine a place without the Hunger Games and couldn't.

Allen started telling her about the Exorcist and their struggle against the Family of Noah and the Akuma made by the Millennium Earl. He told her about his friends recalling fondly the memories he shared with Lanalee, Lavi, Krory, and all the other Exorcists. He even smiled slightly when he remembered the fights he had with Kanda and the creative name calling usually involved.

She listened just as intently as Allen did when he listened to her story, but she wasn't as well practiced with hiding her expressions. Shock, confusion, and maybe even some fear registered on her features.

He finished awkwardly with the fight against the Noah and how his Ark combined with Road's door had landed him here.

"Well that explains your injuries at least." She mumbled. Allen's eyes widened.

"You believe me?" She looked at him sadly.

"Any person who can still feel that much surprise and anger at the Hunger Games can't be from around here and plus." It was her turn to wave vaguely at him. "There's something different about you. I thought you were from the Capitol at first because of your hair, tattoo-"

"It's a scar actually." Allen corrected instinctively. Katniss looked surprised but continued "and your arm, but you seem to be used to the living conditions we have in District 12 which means you can't be the pampered pets the people from the Capitol are. So either you're telling the truth or crazy. I'm willing to accept both."

"What makes you think I'm not just plain crazy?" He asked with a small smile. Katniss looked into his eyes pensively.

"I guess it's nice to think that there is a place with no Hunger Games. I want to believe a place like that exists."

Allen nodded. He understood her desire. Even if somethings seemed like nothing more than fantastical dreams it was better than despair.

"What did yo mean it's not a tattoo but a scar?" She suddenly asked examining the ugly red mark marring the pale skin. Allen fidgeted looking away uncomfortably.

"It's a scar I got from when I was a young kid." He said vaguely. To his great relief she didn't push him any further, everyone had their secrets and Allen knew that there were things Katniss hadn't shared with him, and probably never would. He rose to leave, giving Katniss a small nod of respect before disappearing behind the door.

Katniss watch Allen disappear behind the door and listened to the small click signaling the door's close.

Why had she trusted him?

She wasn't the trusting type she knew that much, but there was something about that boy that was different from anyone she ever met before. Despite him being younger than her his eyes revealed that he had seen as much if not more sorrow then her. He wasn't blinded by society; he realized the horror of the Games. Perhaps she should have been afraid of him but the sincerity in his eyes and his hate for the Capitol's games made her like him. He wasn't just another lamb moving with the crowd.

While Allen had been vague on details of his world she could tell that it certainly wasn't a rosy place. What would she do with Allen though? Could be live with them in Victor's village for the rest of her life as she continued to play Peeta's girlfriend for the Capitol?

No. That wasn't an option anymore President Snow made it clear that she had failed and her only option now was to run away with her family and friends and do their best to make a life for themselves outside of Panem. That meant leaving Allen behind. She knew while it was cruel they couldn't be burdened with another person but the world was never fair. Would he want to go back to his home, and for that matter could he?

She decided that she would just have to deal with the strange boy along with everything else as time progressed. Nothing was set in stone and her own future was far from clear. For now he wasn't a threat and that was good enough for her.

When she walked down the stair the television screen was on for a mandatory program. President Snow's venomous voice came across and while she was busying herself in the kitchen preparing some tea, one message penetrated her hazy thoughts.

"On the seventy-fifth anniversary, as a reminder to the rebels that even the strongest among them cannot overcome the power of the Capitol, the male and female tributes will be reaped from the existing pool of victors."

A horrified gasp, the tinkling of breaking china as Katniss's cup fell to the floor, someone began sobbing in the living room, and Katniss had vanished out the front door heading for the one place she felt safe.

The woods.

"Millenie~" The singsong voice of a young girl with dark spiky hair echoed eerily in the dark room with a long white table in the middle.

"Yes Road?" The man who answered had a very odd appearance indeed even when compared to the ashen gray skin of the Noah. He resembled a clown who's midsection had turned into a balloon. He wore a tall top hat and his face was long with a impossibly large grin.

"I wish we could have played with those exorcist some more..." A dangerous glint in her amber eyes. She twirled a pink umbrella with a pumpkin top in a bored fashion.

"Please stop master Road lero..." The umbrella cried.

"But I'm bored. We shouldn't have retreated when the exorcist were stranded."

"Ooo but I'm interested in where our friend went~" The Millennium earl replied with a musical voice. "My precious Akuma are looking..."

"You mean Allen?" Road suddenly perked up.

"You like that boy too much." A nonchalant voice echoed from the other end of the table. Tyki Mikk leaned back in his chair looking passively bored. Road looked at his playfully.

"Oh but Tyki you're interested in that boy too."

"He's interesting." Tyki said carefully.

"But he's mine okay?" Road pouted. The Earl's glasses glinted as he looked up from the long purple scarf he was knitting in his rocking chair.

"Don't argue my children. Allen Walker might be joining us soon..." The Earl's voice changed. It seemed almost... melancholy?

Tyki looked up interested. If he knew what the Earl meant then things really were getting interesting... after all, Allen was family.


	4. Chapter 4

Allen stood against the side of the Justice building hiding his face under a hood as he did his absolute best to restrain himself from just grabbing Katniss and getting out of the wretched place. Against his better judgment Allen had realized that not only did he like Katniss's family, but had started caring for them.

He had listened to their stories and started to understand their world, they even listened to the heavily edited version of his life and were understanding enough not to press for more details.

Katniss had known who he was and had treated him kindly despite his odd appearance and background, she reminded him of Lenalee. Now she stood alone in a roped off pin waiting for her name to be called so she could go back to the place Allen knew she hated, the arena. It was like watching pigs being carted off for slaughter.

The crowd was restless. The heat of the day was almost tangible. The buzz of heat did nothing to improve the already grim mood of the gatherers, but any attempt they might have made to resist was quelled by the rows of guns being pointed at them by the Peacekeepers.

Katniss had started to act differently after she heard the announcement from President Snow that the tributes would be reaped from the victors. She spent more time training and studying her opponents with her friend Peeta, and mentor Haymitch. Allen had started helping them with their preparations and watched over their training sessions, but he never actively participated unwilling to reveal his own skill.

Allen felt Timcanpy nudge him under his hood clearly agitated. The little golem had taken a liking to Katniss, most likely because of her highly chewable hair.

"Katniss Everdeen." A shaky voice came from the podium where a lady with shockingly golden hair beckoned Katniss forward to stand on the stage next to her.

Allen's hands clenched into fists.

How could they send people to die every year and not care?

How could the people here accept this kind of society?

Allen's breathing became shallow with anger and he barely heard Peeta volunteer to take Haymitch's place.

"Our two tributes from district 12." The announcer said and gave some halfhearted applause that wasn't echoed by a single soul in the courtyard.

Instead everyone watching suddenly touched three fingers to their lips and raised it in some kind of solute to the two tributes. The solute was returned by Katniss and Peeta. Allen recognized the new Head Peacekeeper Thread, a man who enjoyed hurting others and make Allen sick, walked up and grabbed Katniss and Peeta with unnecessary force dragging them back towards the building.

He could hear Katniss crying out.

"No wait! I have to say goodbye!" The man ignored her cries.

"Katniss!" The fear and desperation the young voice that rang out over the crowd seemed to tear at Allen's heart. The fury he had been holding back burst forth like a dam letting loose water.

He wasn't going to stand by and let any more families get torn apart by a selfish government who didn't care for the wellbeing of the ones they govern.

Allen mentally smacked himself as he did something stupid.

He shouldn't interfere, it wasn't his world, but his muscles seem to move on their own and before he knew what he was doing Allen had broken the front of the crowd and whipped off his hood causing Tim to have to scramble into the folds of his jacket to conceal himself.

"Can't you people see this is wrong?" He said in a calm voice that still traveled through the grunts, cries, and general chaos the crowd was now causing.

His voices seemed to have a strange effect on everyone present. Allen felt distinctly uncomfortable as silence descended on the scene. Everyone froze and looked at him. Allen was pretty sure no one had ever question the Capitol, at least not in public, and especially not on a nationally broadcast event where the Capitol was trying to assert its control.

It was too late to back down though so Allen plowed forward.

"If the Capitol is as powerful as it claims shouldn't it use that power to protect its citizens, not spend its resources to tear people apart?" Allen was glad to see horror spread across Thread's face as he recognized his distinctive features.

Only a few weeks earlier Allen had interrupted a "punishment" he was giving out to Katniss's childhood friend Gale. The Peacekeeper had been so shocked that someone would actually try to challenge him that he gave Allen enough time to twist his wrist until the whip fell with a thud onto the ground.

"Sorry sir but I'm going to have to ask you stop. If you continue you might kill him." He asked with a strained smile.

The Peacekeeper had pulled his gun out pointing it threating at Allen.

He was pretty sure he could dodge out of the way or protect himself with Crown Clown but Allen really would have preferred to settle the matter without further violence or activating his Innocence.

His fingers tightened on the trigger but a figure planted itself firmly between the two men soon followed by two more.

Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch had arrived on the scene.

After a lot of pleading, threating, and nonsense on both sides they somehow managed to convince Thread to let Gale go and to ignore Allen's "very rude and stupid" attempt to interfere with a "completely just and reasonable" punishment.

Now Thread looked at Allen with as much contempt as he did when Allen had grabbed his wrist.

He seemed to be about to order someone to shoot Allen, or perhaps he wanted to shoot the boy himself Allen wasn't sure but something stopped him. A man walked out of the justice building and placed a hand on Thread's shoulder whispering something urgently in his ear. He seemed reluctant and argued, but then a grin spread across his face and the Head Peacekeeper nodded.

He made a gesture to someone behind Allen. Katniss cried out a warning and Allen ducked just in time to avoid a long white baton swishing past where his head was.

He twisted on the ground knocking the Peacekeeper of his feet before jumping back a few steps to avoid the other uniformed guards now pouncing after him.

Well this is odd? He thought. Why wouldn't they just kill him, not that they could even if they were trying, but as the Peacekeepers scrambled after Allen they were clearly running with the intent to capture not kill.

Soon he was surrounded and Thread dragged Katniss and Peeta into the building shutting the large polished doors firmly behind him.

Allen might have been gifted but without Crown Clown there was little he could do about hundreds of armored guards all trained in combat, perhaps not as well as Allen himself, but proficient enough to give him trouble in large numbers.

He smiled at the shock reflected on the crowds face as he weaved in and out of the ranks of soldiers punching and kicking with enough force to knock the Peacekeepers unconscious despite their heavily armored bodies.

The residents of District 12 were being pushed back to allow more room for the soldiers to attack Allen. He smiled apologetically at the man he had just hit on the head hard enough to send him sprawling to the ground. An unexpected baton came out of nowhere colliding painfully with his right temple.

Allen fell to the ground shaking his head to try to clear it as pain exploded in his brain. He did his best to get up again but his head was foggy and the couple seconds was all the advantage the peacekeeper's needed to land another hard blow to Allen's head and his vision went black.

Katnissed watched in horror as a limp unmoving body was dragged in by two Peacekeepers.

Her hands were still retrained by Thread. Peeta looked from her to the young boy limp body in shock.

"You killed him." She gasped at the Thread. She felt rage course through her as a smile spread across his cruel lined face.

"No Miss Everdeen. I'm afraid I will not have that pleasure. I was informed a few moments ago that President Snow has something else planned for that insolent boy. I must say I will enjoy this year's games." With that he forced them into a car with Allen and drove off to the train station where the silver snaking figure of the train that would take her to the Capitol was already waiting for her.

"Why are they taking him to the Capitol? Why not just kill him when he shouted during the reaping?" She asked to no one in particular as she sat on one of the plush cushioned chairs in the dining room of the train.

Effie still seemed flustered and confused by what had happened during the ceremony and was pacing nervously around the train muttering about schedules and changes and how everything was no good at all.

"Why did that idiot of a boy say anything in the first place?" Haymitch said irritated. "That boy is obviously from the Capitol so what does he care of the Districts have to sacrifice some children for their entertainment. Come to think of it why was he in District 12 in the first place?" Haymitch had taken an instant dislike to Allen the moment he saw him in and had spent little if any time speaking to the boy.

"He's not from the Capitol." It was Peeta who spoke. Haymitch raised an eyebrow.

"Peeta's right. Allen isn't from around here. When I told him about the Hunger Games he looked so angry and at the same time he seemed like he was going to be sick. No one ever has a reaction like that when they hear about the Hunger Games no matter where they're from." Katniss said firmly. "He's different."

Haymitch huffed disbelievingly.

"I can't believe there's anyone naïve enough to think that the Hunger Games can be stopped by some shouting at the reaping ceremony."

"I don't think he really thought he could stop the games." Peeta commented. "I think it was Prim that set him off." His gaze met Katniss looking for confirmation.

She nodded her agreement, but didn't say anything. If she thought about her sister and mother who she didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to then she knew she would start crying like a child in front of everyone and she didn't need to seem weak. Taking a deep breath she stood.

"I'm going to go see where he is." Haymitch gave a noncommittal wave.

"Do whatever you want girl just don't trust that boy, I know you're smarter than to get attached to dead meat."

Too late. She thought bitterly as she retreated from the room.

To her surprise it was rather easy to find where they were holding the silverette. The room was sealed off and guarded by two peacekeepers. She raised an eyebrow when they wouldn't let her in, but didn't challenge them instead heading off to her room where she showered and curled up on her bed trying to push aside the nagging thought that the next time her family would see her was when the Capitol brought back her cold lifeless body in a box.


	5. Chapter 5

When Allen woke his head was still throbbing horribly and he had to blink a couple times to get rid of the double vision he was experiencing.

He took in his surrounding noting that he was in a small plain room with nothing but a bed and a chair next to it. The wall and doors were all metallic silver and when he approached the door he noticed no handle to allow him to exit.

He waited in the room for what seemed like ages. Timcanpy bit his thumb hard.

"I know I shouldn't have Tim, but I couldn't help it." He protested at the golden creature made angry motioned with its body. "It's just so wrong what they do here. Putting people in an arena and forcing them to kill each other. That's barbaric, no it's worse than that. I bet their president here would get along great with the Earl." He muttered darkly as the golem flew in tight circles above the exorcist's head.

Timcanpy dove under Allen's jacket again as the door opened to reveal a white uniformed soldier.

"You have permission to leave now." His voice was muffled by the helmet he wore.

Allen nodded stiffly and walked briskly past the Peacekeeper.

He hadn't noticed because of the lack of rocking or disturbances but he soon realized that he was on a train, a fast one at that. His horrible sense of direction managed to get him lost even when he was in a space where you could only go forward or back.

The many rooms all had decorations that all looked exactly the same and pretty soon the exorcist was completely confused. Allen could feel panic starting to rise when footsteps behind him made him spin around. He almost wanted to cry in relief when he saw the familiar face of Katniss Everdeen staring at him.

"Katniss!" Allen was ecstatic. "My savior! I was so lost, where is the food?"

He wasn't sure how long he was unconscious but his stomach was protesting at the lack of nutrients. Her grim expression slipped into one of amusement.

"How do you get lost on a train?" She asked.

"Everything looks the same." He complained.

She grimaced but motioned for him to follow.

As he entered a lavishly decorated room with mahogany tables peppered with various rich foods. Allen's stomach gave a monstrous growl causing him to blush profusely and give out numerous apologies.

"It's fine I would be hungry if I was out for two days too. What did they do to you anyway?" It was Peeta who spoke looking up from his spot on the couch where he seemed to be chatting with Effie.

Allen liked the kind polite boy, he had also learned that the boy was an excellent baker and always made tasty snacks for Allen whenever he wanted.

"Hmm ee wss stii." He said while stuffing various dishes into his mouth.

"Umm." Peeta said uncertainly. Allen swallowed with difficulty, reluctant to distract himself from the feast.

He had large portions when staying with the Everdeen's but he had refrained from eating his usual amount not wanting to be rude and consuming the obviously lacking resources in District 12. Now, however, Allen could tell that the train could supply him with as much food as he wanted.

"Hit me with a stick." He said quickly before returning to the food.

Peeta stared in fascination and mild disgust as Allen inhaled every dish on the long dining table leaving nothing but glittering dishes and a spotless tablecloth.

"You eat a lot." Katniss commented.

Allen smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah I've always had to eat that much food." His aching stomach satisfied Allen remembered his manners and walked over to Effie who was still gaping at the now cleaned out dining table. "Pleasure to meet you ma'am." He said extending a hand in greeting. "My name is Allen Walker, sorry for the bit of trouble I caused at the reaping ceremony." Effie recovered quickly and gave a laugh waving it off.

"Effie Trinket." She shook his hand. "No problem dear although you did give everyone quite the fright. It's understandable we've all grown so fond of Katniss it's just so unfair that…" At this Effie choked up dramatically and had to pause to take a deep breath.

Allen kept a polite smile as Haymitch entered. Seeing the white haired boy Haymitch gave a grunt.

"There's something on TV I think all of you should see." His voice was grim and the smiles quickly faded from everyone's face.

Katniss walked after Haymitch followed closely by Peeta. "You should come too boy." He growled to Allen.

Rather taken aback by the invitation and trying to ignore the fact that Haymitch had called him "boy" Allen gave a hasty, "Yes sir." Politely following Peeta out of the dining cart and into a room with a large television screen.

The results of each tribute was playing on the screen starting with District one. Allen watched closely the people who would be forced to kill whether they liked it or not. It reminded him too much of Akuma. Souls that had to kill even when they wished to release so they could live in peace and not have to hurt anyone.

Keeping his face blank hiding his thoughts Allen watched the tributes that were either picked or volunteered. Allen recoiled with disgust when the volunteers from District one Gloss and Cashmere who were brother and sister seemed eager to renter the arena. The tributes from District 2 were no better.

Brutus eagerly volunteered and was closely followed by a fierce looking girl who had filed her teeth into fangs called Enobaria.

"What's with her teeth." Katniss asked.

"She had them filed after she won her Games. It's so she can rip people's throats out." Haymitch provided commentary.

Allen had to force his large meal to stay in his stomach when he thought about those fangs piercing another person's throat. It seemed like she had really turned into nothing more than a beast.

The tributes that were picked from district 3 Beetee and Wiress looked eccentric, but not bloodthirsty at all. They reminded Allen of the science back the Order, the kind of people who would try to invent their way of trouble rather than fight. From District 4 a handsome young boy was picked.

"That's Finnick Odair. Handsome, strong, and an excellent fighter, everyone in the Capitol loves him. You better watch yourself around him." Haymitch provided.

When a disheveled young girl named Annie Cresta was chosen an old lady with strings of white hair volunteered to take her place. Allen had to make a conscious effort to keep his poker face on when the old lady hugged the young girl comfortingly before standing next to the boy named Finnick. Allen knew as well as the lady, announced as Mags, that she was not going to make it.

The tributes from 5 weren't very memorable, and the pale sickly looking tributes from District 6 looked like they couldn't remember their names much less fight anyone.

A clever and fierce looking girl named Johanna Mason was chosen from 7 along with a man named Blight.

Haymitch didn't comment when Woof was chosen from 8 but Effied gasped when the female tribute was chosen.

"Oh not Cecelia." She moaned.

Allen watched in silence as the tributes were selected from Districts 9 and 10 were chosen.

Chaff and Seeder were called for District 11 and it finished with a heavily edited version of the reaping from District 12 were Katniss and Peeta were chosen.

"I see they chose not to show what really happened at 12." Allen commented.

"Actually they weren't quick enough to edit out the first bit when everyone saluted Katniss and you decided to be a reckless idiot and jump in, but they did show you getting you head bashed in." Allen made an indignant noise of complaint when Haymitch called him an idiot.

Reckless… okay maybe just a little, but Allen was not an idiot. "I recorded the original airing when they were showing the reaping live want to see it?" Allen was reluctant, but Katniss and Peeta nodded so he didn't get much of a choice in the matter.

Haymitch pressed a few buttons a new recording started to play.

The recording started with Effie calling Katniss's name and then Haymitch. Peeta volunteered then everyone saluted the two tributes and Prim started crying out to her sister as Katniss was forcefully led away from the Head Peacekeeper. Allen face palmed himself when the earlier recording of him jumped to the front of the crowed and challenged the Peacekeepers.

At this scene Timcanpy came out of his hiding place and bit Allen's head, earning a pained cry from the boy and a surprised grunt from Haymitch who unlike Katniss and Peeta hadn't been introduced to Tim.

"This is Timcanpy, he's a golem created by a friend of mine. He's harmless." Allen assured Haymitch but the skeptical blonde just glared at the golden flying ball as if he didn't trust the thing within a mile of him.

Allen shrugged and turned his attention back to the screen.

He almost wished he hadn't because the people controlling the broadcast had finally realized that the reaping wasn't going the way that had planned and conveniently forgot to show the audience the few dozen Peacekeepers Allen took out.

Instead skipping to the part where a Peacekeeper skillfully landed a sharp blow to his skull causing a sickening crack. The image seemed worse than Allen remembered and the crimson blood that ran down his face and his own cry of pain caused Katniss and Peeta to wince at they watched another Peacekeeper land another blow knocking him out.

"Missed a few minor details I see." Allen muttered darkly under his breath.

The three others in the room just looked at him with mild confusion. He shook his head smiling.

"It's nothing."

Katniss looked concerned but kept silent.

"It's only been two days how can anyone recover from hits like that in two days?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Allen laughed uncomfortably.

They didn't need to know that his parasitic type Innocence allowed him to heal faster than normal humans.

"I'm fine really." He was about to get up and leave when suddenly the screen switched from the video Haymitch was playing to a new one with President Snow standing behind a podium with an impressive white building providing an authoritative background.

"Must be required viewing if it interrupted our recording." Haymitch said darkly

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to congratulate the tributes from all of our Districts and would like to personally make a special announcement regarding the third Quarter-Quell. As all of you know the Quarter-Quell occurs once every 25 years. In honor of that tradition one special tribute will be selected from the Capitol to join the 24 tributes already selected from out 12 Districts."

Everyone stated at the screen shocked.

"The tribute from the Capitol who will be joining this year's Hunger Games I give the citizens of Panem, Allen Walker."

A large picture took up the screen showing Allen with his startling white hair and red scar that started as a upside pentagram above his left eye and ran down to curve along his cheekbone to continue down to his jaw.

No one would doubt that Allen came from the Capitol with feature like that. The young teen stood, frozen in shock.

He had tried not to get involved and he had just been forced to participate in the "Games" he so despised already.

"Well kid." Haymitch said his voice softening slightly for the first time since he met Allen. "Now we know why they didn't shoot you but dragged you on this train with us. You're the 25th tribute for the 75th annual Hunger Games."


	6. Chapter 6

"Well kid." Haymitch said his voice softening slightly for the first time since he met Allen. "Now we know why they didn't shoot you but dragged you on this train with us. You're the 25th tribute for the 75th annual Hunger Games."

Katniss stared at the young boy and waited for some kind of reaction. Despair? Anger? Fear? She wasn't sure what she as looking for but Allen's expression remained blank, he just stared at the screen.

Perhaps he was in shock and didn't fully register the fact that he was now entered in a deadly tournament where 24, no 25 people, would enter and only one would stand victorious. Allen was now a enemy.

She couldn't protect him. She had already promised herself that she would protect Peeta. Looking at the boy, Katniss analyzed him the way she might have scanned a deer she was about to shoot down.

Allen was fit but his small and lean frame guaranteed that he would have little power. He looked quick and agile but against victor's who had experience with killing he stood next to no chance. The only other tributes Allen might outlive were perhaps the morphlings from District 6 who were so reliant on their narcotics that they probably didn't even remember their names anymore.

"Ow Tim!" Allen's sudden cry shook Katniss out of her gloomy train of thought.

The golden thing Allen called a golum had flown down and bit his ear. "What was that for? It's not like I'm gonna die or anything in these stupid games."

Katniss wanted to react more maturely but her mouth hung open in surprise and confusion at the confidence that echoed in the young teen's voice. She was glad to see that the exact same expression mirrored on Peeta and Haymitch's face.

"You're up against 24 other people who all have personal experience in killing people, you know that right." For once when Haymitch addressed Allen there wasn't distrust in his voice just incredulity. Allen winced.

"There are people who are waiting for me to return to them and they'd kill me if I let myself die here. Plus what's done is done right? I have to keep walking." He shot a dazzling smile at everyone in the room just as a flustered Effie stumbled into their cart clearly just having seen the special broadcast on another television screen.

Allen brushed past her gently before walking down the hallway back towards the bedroom areas.

"Is he in denial?" Peeta asked. Haymitch shrugged and grabbed a bottle of wine, biting the cork off before chugging the dark liquid down.

"That boy won't last two minutes in the Games." Haymitch got up grabbing two more bottles on the way back to his own room.

Effie's rants on the highly unusual change in the Games took over the room as both Katniss and Peeta looked at each other and shared a look.

A silent understanding seemed to pass between them. He's our enemy now, and we might have to kill him.

Allen found an empty room and plopped down on the bed. How did I get myself into this mess?He wondered draping his arm over his face.

Tim curled up next to him and nudged him master comfortingly.

He wasn't nervous at all, at least he wasn't nervous about his own safety he knew that he was likely just as, if not more, skilled than anyone in the arena.

Allen was scared though, scared that he would have to watch people die again while not being able to do anything.

He remembered his very first mission with Kanda when Lala had sung to the dying man who was the only one who hadn't feared her.

He had told Kanda then that he wanted to be a destroyer who saved, and he decide at the Asian Branch that he would use his left hand to save Akuma and his right to save people.

If he had to be in the Hunger Games then he would try to protect and save as many people as he could.

There was no backing out now.

Dinner that night was awkward to say the least.

Allen could tell that Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch all thought that Allen was going to die the moment the Games started and clearly pitied him for it judging by the looks they shot him whenever they made eye contact. He just kept quiet and continued inhaling an inhuman amount of food.

Allen's appetite had deterred even Effie from making conversation but after a few minutes she got use to Allen's eating habits and engaged Katniss and Peeta in a mostly one sided conversation. At first Allen hadn't liked the Capitol women much but soon realized that Effie was just a product of the twisted world she grew up in and started to pity her rather than feel repulsed.

After a few polite conversations Allen had found Effie to be a friendly and enthusiastic person who seemed to truly care about Katniss's wellbeing.

"So Allen what are you looking forward to when we get to the Capitol? We should be arriving in just a couple more hours." Allen swallowed before answering,

"The limitless food." Effied looked slightly horrified at the idea of Allen eating any more when they arrived but soon laughed and went to ask Peeta about his paintings.

Allen had to be impressed when they entered the Capitol.

The towering silver buildings were like nothing Allen had ever seen before and the way people dressed as the train pulled into the station was as if all of them had been subject to one of Komui's numerous potions.

Spiked, curled, and straight hair of every color and dresses and suites that looked as if they were made of tropical birds greeted the three tributes as they exited the train and were ushered into a car where they were carted off the buildings that had been built just for the tributes.

"This year is a Quarter-Quell so the Capitol has spared no expenses. New buildings, new arenas, and all new training facilities. Now I've been told that since Allen's announcement as a tribute came as a surprise they don't have a floor for him so he will be staying on the 12th floor with us." Effie commentated as they all crammed into an elevator and headed to the penthouse where Allen would apparently spend the rest of time until the Games.

Katniss had explained to him that there was a training period where your mentor could teach you ways to survive in the game (Since officially Allen was from the Capitol he had no mentor) and they would have the opening Ceremonies where all the tributes dress up and showed themselves to the public to gain sponsors. After an interview the official games started.

Allen listened with rapt attention as he made sure to note all the important things.

"So I'll get to meet the other tributes before the Games?" He asked.

Katniss nodded.

"Well maybe we can get to know them better then." He said.

"And why would to do that?" She said rather coolly. "We're going to have to kill them to they are going to kill us. I don't see the point of getting attached now." Allen's face darkened slightly.

"I'm not going to kill anyone." He said firmly.

Allen knew that he couldn't. He wouldn't even kill Noah much less innocent human beings who were only doing what they had to so they could survive. Katniss raised a disbelieving eyebrow and Haymitch grunted in amusement at his naivetés.

Katniss listened intently to Haymitch as they ate their dinner in their own apartment on the twelfth floor.

"Whatever you two think you know about the Games from last year forget it. This is a whole new leve. These people all know each other and have experience. Their first objective when the games start it to take out the outsiders." Haymitch pointed his fork at Katniss, Peeta and Allen.

"Didn't the broadcast show me in District 12 challenging the head Peacekeeper?" Allen asked. "How is anyone going to believe that I'm from the Capitol if I fought against the Games and I was in District 12." Katniss thought the boy had a good point.

"That live broadcast was only shown in the District not the Capitol and since they fixed the error right away not too many people saw the runt playing the hero." Allen made a sound of protest but was drowned out by Peeta.

"Okay so what do we have to do?" Peeta asked.

"You're going to need allies."

"No." Katniss said with cool finality.

Allen frowned in her direction taking a small break from his mountain of food, but remained silent.

She ignored him. "I'm not going to try to pretend to be friends with people I'm going to kill. Plus how am I supposed to trust them?"

"This isn't about trust." Haymitch said clearly annoyed now. "It's about survival and you two are never going to make it on your own."

Katniss noticed the "You two" instead of "You three."

He was purposely excluding Allen from the survival prep talk.

Katniss figured that Hayitch had already ticked him off as dead meat. Haymitch shot her a look, If you want to keep Peeta alive you need to do this.

"Fine." She said shortly.

"Good." Peeta said relieved. He was much more willing to approach the other Victor then Katniss and she knew that Peeta was better at the making "friends" thing anyway.

"Tomorrow is Opening Ceremonies where the tributes are shown to the world." Haymitch started. "After that training starts. I would suggest you talk to as many as the other tributes as possible and see which ones you can even remotely work with and we'll move on from there."

That seemed to conclude their meeting and they each headed off to their perspective rooms to get a good night's rest before the Opening Ceremonies.

Allen was dragged off first thing in the morning by his assigned stylist.

He was already distinctly uncomfortable with people who resembled colorful birds rather than human beings but his discomfort only intensified when they told him that they would be giving him a "makeover".

That meant that they would see his deformed arm. He took deep calming breaths trying to reassure himself that since his cover story was that he was from that Capitol no one would challenge his left hand. His head stylist came in.

Allen was glad that while having shocking red hair that reminded him of Lavi the man was reasonably normal. He had a suite that was decorated with reflective plates making him resemble a fish, and he had multiple piercings on his ears and one on his eyebrow. He held out a hand.

"Nice to meet you," he greeted extending a hand. "I'm Venture Wishart." Allen took that hand that was offered.

"Allen Walker sir." He shifted uncomfortably under the man's gaze unsure what to do.

"Well there really isn't too much work to be done with you." He said, the three other stylists nodded in appreciation.

"There's never been a tribute from the Capitol before and most of the other Districts dress their tributes in costumes related to what the District provides, for example fishing for District 4, electronics for 3 and coal for 12."

He seemed to ponder for a moment. "I've got some room to work with you since the Capitol doesn't really have a distinctive resource it provides. I admire Cinna."Allen raised a quizzical eyebrow. "He's Katniss Everdeen's stylist. Became everyone's instant favorite after the outfits he provided during last year's games. The girl on fire." He muttered.

Allen recalled Katniss mentioning a man named Cinna who she had grown quite fond of. Allen had trouble imagining ever trusting any of the stylists hovering with him in the small dressing room, but Katniss said that Cinna was hated the Games and was kind and caring towards his charges. "Yes quite the performance, but I think we should go for something not as flashy as flames.

He snapped his fingers and one of the stylists, Allen thought that the man's name might have been Eero, dashed off to retrieve something. When he came back with the outfit Venture had ordered Allen gaped.

"No," He whispered. "Absolutely not."

Katniss stood in a black jumpsuit that covered her from the neck down. It looked simple but Katniss knew that when she pressed the button on her wrist the outfit would glow and shift in a heat wave resembling burning coal. The black crown of metal on her head dramatized the effects of her heavy black make up and dark lipstick.

She was satisfied knowing that for once in her life she looked as dangerous as fire itself.

The other tributes were all gathering and greeting each other making small circles of chatter.

Katniss was new so instead of trying to introduce herself she stroked the neck of the strong black horse ready to pull the golden chariots that would lead the tributes into the parade where they would be displayed in front of the citizens of the Capitol.

A crunch next to her ear made Katniss spin in surprise. Finnick Odair's sea green eyes were staring into her own.

"Sugar cube?" He offered a handful of small white cubes. When she shook her head he popped one into his own mouth instead. "They're supposed to be for the horse but hey they got their entire life to eat sugar whereas if we see something sweet." He grinned at her, "We'd better grab it quick."

Katniss knew that Finnick had won his Games when he was only 14 making him one of the youngest tributes to ever win a Hunger Games. He came from Disctrict 4, the fishing Disctrict, so he had used a beautiful trident and skillfully woven nets to claim the Victor's crown.

Even before he had won his Game everyone in the Capitol and beyond were already drooling over his tall athletic build. His golden skin and bronze hair only exemplified the effect his famous green eyes had on young women.

Despite Finnick being the most sought after person in the Capitol Katniss had never found herself attracted to him, but even she couldn't say that she wasn't slightly distracted by the amount of skin Finnick was showing. He was only draped in a gold net that was artfully gathered and knitted around his groin so that he wasn't technically naked but pretty close.

"You looked terrifying in that outfit." He commented nonchalantly. "What happened to the pretty little girl dresses?"

"I outgrew them." She answered coldly.

"It's too bad about the Quell really. You would've been a star; you would have had anything you wanted."

"I don't want money."

"Oh I haven't dealt with anything as common as money in ages. Secrets Katniss." He smiled. "Secrets are the price people pay for the joy of my company. What about you girl on fire? Do you have any secrets worth my time?" He whispered in her ear. Katniss was upset to find herself blushing but stood her ground fiercely.

"I'm an open book," She said simply. "Everyone always seems to know my secrets before I know them myself." He shrugged.

"I'm afraid I think that's true." Katniss wasn't sure what he meant but his amused smile soon melted.

His eyes narrowed at something behind Katniss and she turned to see a young boy with silver hair being practically dragged by his stylist into the prep area.

She gasped as Allen Walker entered with the hall with the outfit his stylist had designed for him.


	7. Chapter 7

Katniss supposed that Allen was good looking but with the flurry of activities and death threats she hadn't really stopped to ponder his appearance. Now though, she was sure she wasn't the only one staring.

Allen was blushing furiously and trying to hide behind his stylist who was smiling and trying his best to push Allen to his chariot.

The black leather vest hugged his bare torso, carving out each line of his toned body. Tight black pants and knee high boots left little to the imagination. Silver belts hung sideways on his waist, clinking softly with each stuttering step the boy took. But what held Katniss's attention were the elegant black wings that shimmered a thousand shades of darkness as he was pushed forward.

The wings brought out his smooth porcelain skin framed by his snowy white hair and made his silvery eyes glow. The captiol had no defined theme, except perhaps their ridiculous extravagance, so Katniss had no idea what Allen's stylist was going for. Fallen angel? Hell's angel? Most definitely something out of this world, something that didn't belong in the mundane world the other champions walked in.

She was surprised to see that the parts of his chest where the vest didn't cover were marred by several scars. She wasn't sure if that was just part of the outfit that the stylist drew to cause more of an effect but the scars looked real.

Finnick scowled before walking back to his own chariot. Allen's stylist gave him one last shove before retreating back to the prep room.

"Try to look natural ok Allen?" He just glared at his stylist.

"You look different." Katniss was surprised to hear Peeta's voice next to her shoulder. She turned to look and saw that he as dressed in an outfit identical to hers. "Good different though." Peeta added when Allen got even redder.

"I look ridiculous." He groaned. "If Lavi saw me like this or God forbid Kanda…" He shuddered. Katniss wasn't sure who those people were but she thought that chance of them not seeing him on national television was slim.

"Tributes mount up." A voice boomed over the speakers.

Allen looked around horrified. "Wait which one is mine?"

Katniss looked around.

"Looks like they put you in the very front." She pointed to the front gold chariot. He nodded and sprinted down making his wings flutter and the silver ringlets around his arm jingle.

Katniss held Peeta's hand and hey mounted their chariot pushing the button on their wrists causing their outfits to glow. The doors opened and immediately there was screaming, shouting, and pointing.

Katniss could tell from the huge screens along the route that Allen was getting quite a bit of attention in the front. His shy smile only enhancing the costume's effect.

As soon as Katniss and Peeta's chariots came into view the crowd went into an uproar. Katniss remembered what Cinna told her and looked straight ahead as if the crowd as beneath her. Why bother pretending she cared for the people who brought only suffering to her and her family. No more pretending to love her fans from the Capitol and no false smiles and waves, she just got to her herself.

The chariots made a loop around the City Circle while President Snow appeared on the balcony. The chariots entered a set of double doors and halted in the training center. Katniss's prep team was there to greet her and congratulate her performance. Haymitch was in the room too but he was chatting with the male tribute Chaff from District 11.

They walked over in her direction with Allen not far behind tripping over himself as he tried to remove his black wings.

Chaff struck an intimidating figure, tall and muscular with dark skin and an arm that ended as a stump, but his lips were pulled into a welcoming smile. The women next to him, Seeder was an olive skinned woman in her sixties. In Chaff's looming shadows she looked even smaller. She gave Katniss a small embrace. Chaff threw his good arm around her and gave her a kiss right on the mouth. This earned a surprised jerk from Katniss and an indignant squawk from Peeta and Allen who had caught up to them by now.

"He's just friendly." Haymitch said chuckling, "Very friendly." The Capitol attendant rushed forward to guide the tributes to their rooms. They were clearly uncomfortable with the amount of friendliness happening between people soon to murder each other for entertainment.

Katniss stepped into the elevator followed by Peeta, Haymitch and Allen. Before the door shut another girl, Johanna Mason from District 7, slipped in. She was stripping off her rather silly tree outfit.

"You three look great!" She said. "My stylist is such an idiot." She said shaking her head causing her spiky hair to dance before settling again.

"Thank." Katniss replied unsure what else to say. Johanna continued to strip off her costume in the elevator until she was wearing nothing but her slippers.

Allen made an odd noise turning red as a tomato. His eyes darted around looking everywhere but at Johanna. Haymitch just chuckled and Peeta shifted but Katniss saw a grin spreading across his face.

When Johanna got out on the 7th floor Allen cried out. "Are all the people here insane?"

Peeta started laughing and tried to calm down enough to tell Katniss that the other tributes were teasing her but just dissolved into laughter again. She was glad to see that Allen was also sharing her look of confusion and incredulity.

_______________________ ___________________________________________________________________

Allen followed Katniss down to the training center.

After the activities of last night, which were odd to say the least, he was glad to return to something he knew. Training to fight and survive. Plus if would be helpful for him to pick up some tips on how to find food which he was sure wouldn't be in abundance when they were in the arena.

He originally had wanted to bring Tim so he could record the other tributes for Allen's study but decided not to attract unwanted attention to the golem and, much to Timcanpy's displeasure, had ordered him to stay in his room unless otherwise instructed. That had earned him a bite to his thumb.

They were one of the first to arrive along with the male tribute from 1 Brutus, and the women from 2, Enobaria.

Allen wanted to try and make as many friend as possible to prevent what bloodshed he could during the Games, but judging from the feral snarls he received as a morning greeting from them, it looked like making friends were the furthest things from their mind.

By ten o'clock only about a dozen people were there but the tributes that were present got to work right away.

Peeta went over to throw spear with Brutus and Chaff while Allen followed Katniss to the knotting station where they were joined by Finnick.

Allen tried to start a conversation with the young man, but Finnick was insistent on answering with one a couple syllables. Since Allen's attempt at conversation with Finnick wasn't getting him anywhere and Katniss had moved on to the fire starting station Allen decided to follow her. 

Allen noticed the pair from District 3 join them. They were small and both had short black hair. Allen sat next to them and started a conversation. They were much more approachable then Finnick and gladly engaged Allen.

The women Wiress seemed a little distracted and her sentences would trail off without her ever finishing them. Beetee was fidgety but was intelligent and friendly. Allen saw out of the corner of his eye that Katniss had noticed the company. She seemed to look around for somewhere else to go but apparently decided that this was the best place to be.

"So what do you?" She asked, joining the merry conversation.

"Oh their inventors!" Allen answered enthusiastically. He was fascinated by the inventions Wiress and Beetee had told him about. They would have loved the science department in the Black Order. Some of the things they came up with were as crazy as Komui's sir Comlins.

After a few more minutes they moved as a group to the shelter station. Wiress pointed at something in the air in front of where the Gamemakers are roaming about lazily observing the tributes.

"By the corner…" Wiress said.

"Ahh yes you can just make it out." Beetee finished. Allen had noticed Beetee often completed Wiress thoughts for her and they made a formidable team of brains.

"What?" Katniss asked. Allen was equally confused.

"There's a force field set up between the Gamermakers and us." Beetee explained. Allen squinted and could just make out a slight distortion in the air like the way the road shimmers when the sun is shining on it. Katniss smiled.

"Yeah I think that's my fault." Allen looked at her for an explanation. "I shot an arrow at the Gamemakers last year." His eyes widened.

He knew that Katniss was brave but he didn't realize that she would shoot an arrow at the Gamemakers. Even with his limited knowledge he knew that the Gamemakers were important individuals that would be over seeing the arena during the Games.

Now that Katniss was proving more social he looked around to find Peeta surrounded by 10 or so Victors all chatting together. Allen was going to suggest they join them but was spared the need to when lunch was announced.

His stomach growled in agreement with the overhead speakers. The Victors dragged the tables together so they were all sitting in a large circle. Allen got a few looks from the other tributes but they stayed silent as he sat with Katniss, Peeta, Wiress, and Beetee.

The first five minutes was filled with silence as the other tributes watched in fascination as Allen balanced five trays stacked to the ceiling with food. 

He gulped the last of his food down just in time to catch the conversation that was starting to thrive at their table. It reminded him of the cafeteria and a small wave of homesickness struck him. He had been wondering what had happened to his friend ever since he woke up in this word, but he had faith in all the Exorcist. His friends could take care of themselves. 

Katniss was muttering with Peeta and they got into some kind of scuffle but Allen tried to ignore it knowing they would sort it out on their own.

"So Allen." Johanna said casually. "You really from the Capitol?" The effect was unnerving. The room fell silent almost immediately all head turned to him. Some tried to pretend they weren't paying attention but most just stared.

"Uhh." Allen knew that were being watched so it wasn't smart to contradict the president's story, but he wasn't going to get anywhere with these people if they resented him with the full force of which they hated the Capitol.

"Yeah I was born in the Capitol, but I know a lot about the Districts since I got to travel quite a bit." He almost wanted to hit himself. He was an excellent liar, his childhood required it, but there were too many missing pieces and land mines for him to sound convincing. The tributes looked at him with narrowed eyes and contemplative faces. He tried to tell them with the look on his face that he hated the Games but he wasn't sure if it got across or not.

"So how were you chosen for the Games?" Johanna asked again. This girl was going to be his downfall. 

"They did a secret reaping like in the Districts but no cameras." He said. She nodded playing with her food like she couldn't care less what his answers were but Allen could tell by the slightly furrowed brow and tilted head she was listening intently.

After lunch they returned to the training center. Allen once again followed Katniss around and was soon approached by Mags the elderly women who had volunteered in place of the young crazed women from District 4.

"You're from District 4 right?" Katniss asked. Allen was surprised at the gentleness in her voice as she addressed the elderly women. "How about you teach me how to tie knots and I'll show you how to shoot?" Mags was good at knots so they spent some time at the knotting station.

Allen was horrible because of the gloves he was wearing, but years of verbal and physical abuse made Allen reluctant to reveal his hand if it wasn't necessary.

They made their way to the archery station where Katniss chose a bow and swung a quiver of arrows on her shoulder. She entered the simulation room and started the archery program. Allen watched in fascination as yellow holograms appeared out of nowhere and charged Katniss with various weapons.

She calmly drew arrow after arrow shooting down every last one of her attackers. Many more appeared from different angles. One was above her on the balcony with a holographic bow and arrow of its own but it was no match for Katniss's speed. She grabbed two arrows at once. The holograms burst into showers of artificial light. 

Clapping echoed around Allen as the other tributes who had stopped to watch applauded the impressive performance. Allen could tell that she was truly an excellent shot, clearly honed by years of practical experience. She exited the room and grinned at him. Allen returned the smile patting her on the back.

"I didn't know you could shoot so well." He said.

"Well I guess you didn't spend enough time with me." She replied with a smirk.

"Can you shoot runt?" Allen prickled at the name. It was almost as bad as beansprout. He wasn't surprised to see Joanna standing behind him, her hands resting on cocked hips. 

"No I've never tried archery before." He smiled keeping his face neutral. Finnick surveyed him skeptically.

"He couldn't pick up a bow even if he wanted." Allen frowned in Finnick's direction. Had he done something to offend the man?

"I'm sure I could if it was necessary." His tone was slightly more clipped. 

"You're just a Capitol pet that's never had to lift a thing in your life." This time it was the male tribute from 7, Blight if Allen recalled correctly.

"I've had my fair share of close shaves." Allen said. That was an understatement really, pretty much every minute of his life had been close shaves even before he joined the Order.

"Oh did you forget your hankey at home once?" Cashmere's sardonic voice boomed over the victors. "What would you know about danger? What would a brat like you know about suffering?"

Allen couldn't help but give a humorless laugh. He knew more about danger and suffering than any other person standing in the room. He could tell that he wasn't going to get anywhere with the other tributes if he didn't earn their respect. Allen sighed and shrugged walking into the simulation room.

It was about time they knew that he wasn't some pampered Capitol pet that hadn't seen a day of fighting. He needed allies, and if not allies, he needed enemies that held a healthy dose of respect for the danger he presented. They were going to see the person they could ally with, or becomes enemies with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Thought I should let everyone know that Finnick is just being unfriendly because he doesn't trust Allen (since it's pretty obvious there's something different about him) and since he's involved with protecting Katniss he's even more distant with him. I really like Finnick and I want to make it clear that I'm not trying to make him out to be a jerk or anything. He's just doing his job.


	8. Chapter 8

Katniss was unnerved at the dark look and cold voice with which Allen replied to Cashmere's question. The boy had always struck her as kind and polite, but now Katniss couldn't suppress the shiver that ran down her spine.

Allen turned his back to his fellow tributes and walked in to the simulation room Katniss had just exited. He held no weapon instead instead selecting the hand-to-hand combat option on the screen. The room darkened and lit up again this time revealing a dozen holographic opponents that rushed Allen simultaneously.

Allen watched with a cold calculated look as the glowing yellow soldiers ran towards him with various glowing weaponry. They were slow and clumsy compared to Kanda and Lavi whom Allen was use to sparring with.

Allen flipped and spun out of the way with the ease and grace of an acrobat. He brought a round house kick down on one hologram causing it to crumble in a cascade of sparks. Spinning to avoid the spear thrown at him by another hologram Allen delivered a fierce punch to second opponent and sweeping the feet from under a third. He dodged the ax of another hologram allowing it to clash with a fellow hologram Allen had swept onto the floor, they both exploded. Six holograms swung swords, threw knives, and hurled maces all of which Allen avoided lazily.

He could feel the familiar rush of battle start to course through his veins and he felt more alert than he had ever felt since he entered Katniss's world. Knowing that he wouldn't hurt anything in the simulation Allen lashed out with all his strength obliterating the remaining holograms.

When the program ended he wasn't even breathing hard in fact he felt even more energized. For a moment he had forgotten the reason he entered the simulation in the first place but then turned to see a dozen stunned faces staring at him through the class doors. Suddenly feeling awkward Allen just smiled sheepishly back at the Victors.

* * *

"Congratulations Katniss half the Victors want you as an ally so you have your pick." Haymitch said with grudging respect. Katniss sat with Peeta and Allen on the plush couches on their apartment on the 12th floor of the training center.

"Of course! They saw her shoot." Peeta said matter of factly.

"And for reasons beyond me I've been told that if you're interested Allen there are tributes who want to ally with you." Haymitch said, "Although when I became your personal message delivery boy I don't know." He added under his breath.

"I want Wiress, Beetee, and Mags." Katniss said. Peeta snorted.

"The other tributes call them Nuts and Volts. They're kind of a joke to the others." Allen frowned disapprovingly and Katniss was glad for his support.

"Anyone else?" Haymitch pushed. Katniss looked down at the couch thinking. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea but if she had to have allies it might as well be with people that she could at least get along with.

"Allen." She said firmly. The boy jerked his head in surprise. Katniss was surprised too. She had never thought of Allen as an ally before. She thought of him as person who was worthy of protecting or to pity but now she knew that he would be a worthy partner. Allen's combat skills were probably better then hers. He had been vague about what being an Exorcist involved. She assumed that they fought but she never imagined a small lean person like Allen could ever hold up in a fist fight.

"You can't afford to be burdened with any more people especially if you're serious about having Wiress, Beetee, and Mags." Haymitch said harshly. He had never been one for sensitivity or politeness. Before Allen could protest Peeta cut in.

"You didn't see him fight today." The calm confidence in Peeta's voices made Haymitch scrutinize Allen with narrowed eyes. "He could probably take us both on."

"Doubt it." Haymitch grunted but the distaste in his voice had faded, replaced by curiosity.

"I promise not to be a burden. I stand by what I said before I won't kill anyone in the Games even if you think I'm just being naïve. I will protect Katniss, Peeta and anyone else I can." Allen's voice was calm and his face was an unreadable mask. That was one thing that unnerved Katniss. When Allen didn't want one to see through him it was impossible to know what he was thinking or even what he was feeling. That false smile of innocence protected the enigma's secrets and guarded them well.

"I'll tell the other tributes you're still thinking about it." Haymitch said before exiting.

After the little stunt Allen had pulled the day before all the tributes now accepted him into their circles of chatter and training. Some tributes had even given him lessons on using certain weaponry in return for some sparring practice.

Allen found that he liked quite a few of the tributes and some he wanted to protect just on instinct. He had even spent some times talking in soft soothing voices to the morphlings who found his hair fascinating and responded well to his kind and gentle demeanor.

The rest of training had gone well and soon Katniss told Allen that it was time for individual assessments. The other Victors didn't seem very concerned with it. The old lady Mags, whom Allen liked very much, mentioned that she would take a nap.

Allen had no idea what he would do. He wouldn't be able to showcase any of his real talents. He still had no idea what he was going to do when he entered the private assessment. To his surprise the area where the Gamemakers were supposed to be watching was empty. Allen felt his muscles tense and he slipped on a perfect poker face when a cold venomous voice sounded behind.

"President Snow. What a surprise." Allen said pleasantly as he turned to face the pale, lined face of Snow. He wore a dark suite that made his white hair and beard stand out. Somehow he looked out of place not standing in a television screen or with a majestic building behind him.

"Mr. Walker." He began, "I don't know who you are but I know that you aren't from…around here are you?" Allen knew despite his incredible skills at lying that it wouldn't get him very far here.

"I would say no. In fact I think I don't really belong here at all, but since I'm here I might as well make the most of it." He chirped happily.

"Mr. Walker I'm an honest person, you will not win the Games." His tone was clear. The president would make sure he died in that arena.

"I don't plan to." Allen replied simply "There are never winners of this 'game' of yours. What you are trying to accomplish cannot be done through Games and demonstrations. You are only fueling a spark that will burst into flames."

"Not if someone isn't there to make sure the flames don't go out." Katniss. He was talking about Katniss.

The hushed conversation between Katniss, Bettee, and Wiress made sense. Allen knew what this Game was about now. President Snow was trying to quell the sparks of rebellion in this country.

"Mr. Walker are you going to be a problem?" He said bluntly.  _Not very subtle is he?_

"I will protect those that I can in the arena, that's a promise. You and I both know this isn't my war but it doesn't mean I'm going to let innocent people die." Allen never let his smile slip off his face.

"Don't try to play hero boy, this country might not be paradise now but what these fools are trying to accomplish will only leave the population in worse shape."

"That may be true President Snow but it's the people's right to forge their own future. They will determine what shape the country will be in, for better or for worse. Even if it is for worst at least it will be the lives they chose for themselves."

Snow snorted and walked forward leaning in close to Allen's face.

"Katniss Everdeen cannot be allowed to live and anyone who is foolish enough to get in the way will go with her. Choose wisely. Will you die as a simple tribute or a rebel who pushed the country into ruin?"

"I will be a destroyer who can save." The president's eyebrows shot up. "Sorry but I've never really learned when to give up." Without permission Allen walked away back towards the door and to his surprise it opened allowing him to leave the room leaving a frowning Snow behind.

* * *

"What did you do Peeta?" Katniss asked as she ate with Peeta, Allen, Haymitch, and her prep team around the table in their lavishly decorated dining room.

"I err... painted Rue after you buried her with flowers." Horrified gasps escaped from multiple members of Katniss's prep team. "I just wanted them to feel responsible for that little girl's death even for just a few moments." He tried to justify.

"Oh Peeta that kind of thinking is forbidden." Effie said softly.

"Why? They did kill her." Allen's voice surprised Katniss.

He usually avoided participating in their debates over the Games and Capitol other than letting a small frown or look of concentration come across his face as he listened. Effie just looked around with a scared face.

"Don't suppose this would be a good time to mention that I hung a dummy and painted Seneca Crane on it would it?" The full force of disapproval crashed down on her.

"You hung… Seneca Crane?" Cinna asked. Katniss nodded.

"Yeah I was showing my knot-tying skills." She answered.

"You would have thought we planned it." Peeta said with amusement.

"You didn't?" Portia asked with her hands pressed against her eyes.

"Nope. Had no idea what I would do when I walked in." Katniss said nonchalantly.

"Oh you're going to bring down so much trouble on yourselves." Effie muttered.

"In this case I have to agree with Effie." Haymitch said.

"Oh and one more thing." Katniss said. She shared a look with Peeta. They had decided as they were waiting for their individual easements that they wouldn't have any allies. She knew that the ties made in the Games would be temporary and would have to be severed at some point so it would be better for both of them if they didn't feel responsible for anyone other than themselves.

"We don't want any allies in the Games. Just us no one else." She couldn't help but shoot an apologetic look in Allen's direction. If the teen was disappointed or saddened by their announcement he didn't show it in the slightest.

"Good." Haymitch said rather ferociously. "That way I won't be responsible when your stupidity gets my friends killed."

"Just what we were thinking." She replied coolly. After dinner they sat around the couch and waited for the scores from the individual assessment to show on the screen. Allen's came up first.

"12? The highest possible score?" Katniss couldn't help sounding shocked. "What did you do?" Allen narrowed his eyes at the screen not answering. Both tributes from 1 and 3 got high scores along with Finnick. The rest got medium to low scores and when it came to Katniss and Peeta they both got 12s.

"Why did they do that?" Katniss asked when it was over.

"So that the others will be forced to target you." Haymitch gave a heavy sigh, "I'm going to bed I can't even look at you three." Allen raised an eyebrow noticing the mentor's change when he addressed them. Before Katniss headed to bed she grabbed Peeta's arm and hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry." She said. She wasn't even sure what she was sorry for. Making the situation worse? Not being able to guarantee that Peeta would go home? Or maybe that the truth was that she had given up and knew she would die in the arena.

"Why did you do it?" Peetas asked. Katniss knew he was asking about her stunt with the individual assessments.

"I guess I wanted to show them that I'm not just a piece in their game." She smiled recalling the occasion she first heard those words from Peeta during the first games.

"Me too." Peeta slipped his arms around her and rested his head on hers. "I haven't given up on sending you home but if I were honest."

"President Snow probably gave direct orders to kill us in the arena."

"Yeah probably." She had been playing with that idea ever since she heard about the special conditions under which the third Quarter-Quell would be hosted. She knew she was going to die in the arena but she hadn't given up hope on getting Peeta home. She would be the brave martyr the rebellion needed in the Games and Peeta would stay alive to turn his heart break and anger into words that would incite the nation. If she was doomed to die then she would do it without playing to the rules of the Capitol.

Katniss looked into Peeta's eyes and knew that he would be beyond furious if he knew anything she was thinking.

"So what do you want to do?" She asked.

"Spend every possible minute with you." Katniss smiled and pulled him away.

* * *

Allen sat in the chair provided for his interview the day before the Games with Caesar Flickerman. He was glad that his stylist hadn't made him wear anything ridiculous. He just had a smart white suite and gloves. Giving his dazzling smile to the crowd he let Caesar start.

"So Allen I think we were all rather surprised when President Snow announced that there would be a tribute from the Capitol what is it like to be the first Capitol tribute in history?"

"Well Caesar I think President Snow was very considerate to include a tribute from the Capitol for this Game. I mean it's hardly fair if it's only the Districts that have to give tributes right?" His kept his smile innocent and kept his tone light.

"Yes very considerate of him." Caesar gave a laugh. "Do you think you can win the Games? You are up against other Victors who have more experience and support after all?"

"Well I think that with some help from the other tributes we'll be strong enough together." Allen knew that this was probably his last chance to announce something publically and even though he couldn't be blunt he hoped the Districts would at least get his message. "It is only natural that we'd be stronger if we helped each other out after all we're all working towards the same goal."

"Yes it does make sense for some to make alliances. Well our three minutes are up." Caesar stood and Allen stood with him waving to the crazy Capitol crowd and giving them a smile. "Allen Walker everyone!" Caesar cried out with enthusiasm.

He walked up behind the interview area to an elevated stand behind the two chairs where he would stand and watch the next interviews. He noticed that the other tributes had the same idea as him. There were of course many tributes who were either too out of it to know what was going on during their interviews, or who were just exited for another game, but there were enough tributes who were witty enough to fight the Capitol.

Cashmere talked about how she can't stop crying because of all the love she feels for the people in the Capitol and how her fans were going to be so heartbroken when they lost her while Gloss recalled fondly of the kindness showed to him and his sister in the Capitol.

Beetee questioned the legality of the Quell and Finnick made half the crowd burst into tears by reciting a poem he wrote for his one true love.

To Allen's surprise even Johanna Mason commented on how the Games were so cruel. Surely no one expected such a beautiful and deep bond to form between the Victors and Capitol citizens and how such a deep bond should never be severed. Seeder recalls how in District 11 they believed President Snow was all powerful and if he was then he could stop the Games. Chaff followed by insisting that Snow could change the Games if he wanted.

Allen had to hide his amusement at the crowd's reaction when Katniss entered the stage wearing a stunning wedding gown bejeweled with pearls. The crowd was a wreck. They cried and some even screamed to cancel the game.

Even Caesar, who Allen had to give credit to for showing unwavering professionalism, was starting to lose his composure. Practically yelling for the crowd to quiet he asked Katniss.

"So this is obviously a very emotional night. I think that everyone here is more than a little disappointed that a certain wedding didn't take place." Katniss nodded pretending to restrain tears.

"Yes but at least President Snow was thoughtful enough to let everyone see my dress." She gestured to her silky gown.

"May we have the honor?" Caesar gestured at the front of the stage asking Katniss to twirl for the audience. She obliged.

Allen had to put some effort in keeping his mask on when Katniss's dress burst into flames that curled and consumed her gown until nothing but a dress made of glistening feathers remained. She raised her arms and a pair of wings with white patches on them spread across the stage.

The crowd's screams echoed like thunder.

"Wow your stylist really has outdone himself!" Caesar exclaimed.

"A mockingjay, the bird I wear on my pin as a token."

"Well done Cinna take a bow." From the crowd Cinna rose and gave a gracious bow. Allen had never heard of the bird before but he knew it meant something to the people or else Cinna wouldn't have designed her dress that way. Recognition flashed across Caesar's face. He clearly knew that the bird meant much more than just Katniss's token.

Katniss gave a small curtsy and walked up to the overview area to stand next to Chaff as Peeta walked on stage. He was wearing a dark suite and white gloves similar to what a groom would wear. He waved and gave a charming smile before settling himself next to Caesar.

"So Peeta what was it like finding out about the Quell and knowing that you would never get a chance to marry Katniss?"

"Well we were all shocked when the Quell was announced I mean we won our Game and everyone seemed to be happy for us." Caesar nodded sympathetically. Peeta took a deep breath before asking. "Do you think you could keep a secret?" Everyone gave a small laugh.

"Sure Peeta."

"Katniss and I already got married. Not officially of course." He added in answer to Caesar's look of confusion. "It's just a small ritual we have in 12 but to me and Katniss it means more than any old piece of paper saying we're married."

"Well I'm glad you two got to enjoy a couple moths of happiness together."

"I'm not. I wish we had never done it." The bitterness in Peeta's voice befuddled Caesar.

"But surely a few moments of time together is better than none."

"Normally I would agree with you if it weren't…" He trailed off.

"If it weren't for what?" Caesar pushed.

"If it weren't for the baby." The effect was instantaneous. The crowd exploded in cries of cruelty and how the Games had to be stopped. Even Allen couldn't help give a small smile. Peeta had just lit the bomb that all the tributes had been building. The cries of the crowd were so loud no one could hear anything Caesar Flickerman was saying anymore.

Peeta nodded to the audience before dutifully taking his spot next to Katniss and the other tributes. He held his hand out to Katniss who took it. They both had tears in their eyes. Allen held out a hand to Cashmere next to him and to his surprise she took it offering her own hand to her brother next to her.

Soon all the victors clasped hands forming one unbroken chain and raised their joined hands into the air.

It was an undeniable demonstration of unity.

In the chaos of the screaming crowd and confusion on stage the Capitol couldn't shut down the screen in time.

Everyone had seen the Victor's joined hands before the stage went dark.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Katniss didn't let Peeta go that night.

She knew even if she would be dead within the next fortnight, something had happened on stage that even her death couldn't undo. A moment of unity across the district, perhaps the first instance of such a public display in 75 years. Perhaps the small rebellion the victors had staged would allow for a real one to thrive. 

At dawn Peeta was led away, and her own fate sealed with a small tracker injected into her left forearm. She sat in her pre-game prep room staring at the smooth skin, running a finger across to feel the small piece of metal that signified her status as a pawn. She looked up as Cinna entered the room with her outfit.

Ablue jumpsuit that zipped up in the front paired with a wide plastic belt covered in purple plastic. The shoes were nylon with rubber soles. The cloth was thin and wouldn't provide much protection against the cold or water. 

"Based on the outfit I would say tropical." He said rubbing the thin fabric between his fingers. He helped her zip up and walked in silent solidarity into the plain white room, completely care except for the circular platform that'd take Katniss into the arena. She turned her gaze back to the man who had given her more than he probably knew. It was the last time she was gonna see him, she opened her mouth to say something, anything, but the air stayed silent. 

"I'm still betting on you girl on fire." It was Cinna's warm voice that carried through the small space. Katniss could only nod. 

"Thank you for everything Cinna." Katniss blurted out. Five words seemed inadequate to convey how much his support, and maybe even his innate goodness, had rubbed off on her. He was among those she could count on one hand of people she trusted. Judging by the small smile that reached his dark eyes, perhaps some of her emotions conveyed through. 

Katniss back away, centering herself on the metal plate and letting the glass cylinder descend, waiting to rise into the arena. She waited expectantly but raised a quizzical eyebrow when nothing happened. Cinna shook his head in confusion when Katniss looked towards him for an answer.

The door behind Cinna burst open revealing three Peacekeepers. The last thing she could see as the ceiling lowered down were metal gloves meeting flesh. Drops of crimson splatter across pristine white tile. Screams that she knew belong to her but sounded foreign in their dull echo. A limp body was dragged away. Blinding natural light was starting to shine over her head but Katniss kept pounding uselessly at glass, crying the name of another who had died for her. 

The platform rose completely. 

At first Katniss was blinded. The space around her feet seemed to shine like a mirror reflecting sunlight. The sun beamed down her head and a warm breeze blew around her. As her eyes adjusted she noticed the water surrounding her on all four sides and the gentle rhythm of lapping liquid against her shoes. 

_This is no place for a girl on fire._

* * *

President Snow sat in his elegant wooden chair watching a screen with his fingers stroking the frame of a tattered book. Only the presidents knew about this ancient secret that had survived the first rebellion.

The book spoke of a mysterious young man who appeared out of nowhere and spoke of coming from a different world. This man wielded unknown power and, with his appearance, came the rebellion from District 13. He disappeared one day without anyone ever finding out his identity or purpose.

Closing the book with a thud Snow looked back up to the screen.

A young white haired teen was standing on a metal plate in a sea of water. His eyes screwed up to block out the blinding light. Face tense with anticipation.

The mysterious man the book spoke of appeared 75 years ago.

* * *

Aboard what Katniss had called a "hovercraft" a Capitol attendant had approached Allen and asked for his left arm.

"May I ask what for?" He smiled keeping both arms firms fixed in their position on his lap.

"Tracker." was his curt reply. The man eyed his folded arms with annoyance. Allen raised his left arm still keeping his smile fixed.

"I don't think you'll have much luck with this arm." He warned, the attendant only snorted and stared when the needle snapped clean in half as he tried to jab it into darkened skin. He grabbed Allen's right arm and shot the electronic tracker in now with a scowl etched deep into his forehead. Allen allowed himself to feel amused by the personally offended looks he kept received for the rest of the journey to the arena. 

As he was raised on a circular metal plate, Allen had to blinked hard to block out the blinding light that filled into his vision.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let the 75th Hunger Games begin! And may the odds be ever in your favor." He was standing in a field of water with the cornucopia containing all the supplies and weapons about 40 yards away on what appeared to an island.

Twelve thin strips of land radiated from the center dividing the circular body of water.

In each sector of water there are a pair of tributes except in Allen's. He shared a sector with the tributes from District 1 Gloss and Cashmere. 

Beyond the water there was a sandy shore and dense green canopy like the rain forests Allen remembered from India.

As the countdown approached 10 Allen knew where he needed to go. Katniss told him there was always a bloodbath the beginning of the game, as all the tributes fought for possession of the Cornucopia. That's where he needed to be if he were to try to prevent as many causalities as possible.

When the gong rang out Allen tried to jump into the water to get to one of the narrow strips of land that would gain him access to the Cornucopia, but something odd happened. The plate under him slipped ever so slightly. To any onlooker it would have seemed as though Allen had slipped on his own, but as he face planted into the salty waves he knew that his fight against the Capitol had already begun.

Snow couldn't be obvious in his efforts to kill him. After all why would the Gamemakers target their own darling tribute. But it appeared Snow had no qualms about handing the other tributes and edge to his dirty work for him. 

Allen hit the waves hard but it certainly wasn't the first time he'd been pitched head first into an ocean. He righted himself quickly and began making strong strokes towards lands. However, his slip had given other Victors a chance to reach the Cornucopia first. Allen's chest constricted when he saw that there was already a crumpled body lying next to the shining metal shell. Katniss already had a bow and a sheath of arrows swung over her shoulder. Her bow was drawn aiming at Enobaria who flew into the water to avoid the arrow singing above her head. 

Another arrow lodged itself in Gloss's leg forcing him back into the safety of the water too.

"Anything helpful?" Finnick's voice. Allen had thought Katniss wasn't working with anyone other than Peeta but he guessed circumstances changed.

"Weapons! Nothing but Weapons." Katniss called back. Reaching one of the thin strips of land Allen started running as fast as he could towards the other tributes still at the Cornucopia. District 1 and 2 seemed to have formed an alliance liked Allen suspected they would. It didn't matter to him right then though, the more alliances the less he would have to interfere.

Finnick dragged Peeta with him to join Mags and Katniss on the island. Allen was glad to see that the other tributes were still standing on their perspective plates unable to brave the waters. Beetee and Wiress were swimming away upon realizing that the purple belts on their outfits were flotation devices. Upon closer inspection, two more bodies already littered the ground. Both Cecelia and Woof from District 8 lay dead. 

He gritted his teeth, what a waste of life. If he got just a little more of a head start, but in battle two seconds meant the difference between life and death. Katniss noticed his approach and raised an arrow. Allen raised both eyebrows, staring at her questioningly but otherwise making no move. 

There was apprehension in her stance and her face was shadowed.

Finnick showed no such hesitation he threw a trident with blinding speed. Allen instinctively caught it with his left hand allowing the strength of his Innocence left arm stop the trident in its place. Finnick had always tried to keep a calm and charming composure but his face was ridiculous.

"I'm not going to fight you unless you force me to." He said simply gently tossing the trident back at Finnick who caught it easily. His face became even more shocked if humanly possible. Allen gave him credit for recovering quickly.

"Come on Katniss." He swung Mags over his shoulder and started dashing towards the lush jungle. Katniss followed but hesitated for a moment.

"Come with us." She said. Allen smiled but shook his head.

"I'll find you but I have work to do here." She didn't have time to say anything else. Allen only saw her sweeping away her hair as she took off with her companions away from the Cornucopia which was starting to get crowded as more and more tributes figured out that their suites kept them from drowning.

Allen didn't care how odd it looked he swept towards the fights erupting around the Cornucopia. To everyone's general confusion Allen didn't attempt to kill them just sidestepped attacks and stopped weapons from finding their mark. Knocking the knife out of Cashmere's hand and sweeping Gloss's already injured leg from under him gave the tributes from 9 and 10 enough time to run off into the jungle.

Brutus aimed a spear at Seeder the tributes from 11 but Allen caught it.

"Go!" He yelled at the middle-aged women. She gratefully did so going out of range of the career pack. Brutus, Enobaria, Gloss, and Cashmere were in various states of shock at the precision and ease Allen demonstrated as he avoided their attacks. They reluctantly retreated to the beach and waited. Allen knew they were waiting for him to leave so he quickly walked over to the three dead tributes.

The drunken man from 5 and Cecelia and Woof from 8 lay unmoving on the stone wet stone surface.

"I'm sorry." He kept his voice soft as he slipped their eyelids closed. 

Allen had known from the start that he wouldn't be able to save everyone so why was there still a stinging in his eyes? At least in this world their soul would be able to rest in peace without the chance of being returned to the world of the living as Akuma. Allen dashed towards the wood in the same direction (or he hoped it was the same direction) as Katniss did when she disappeared into the woods.

"Timcanpy! I'm so glad to see you." Allen cried out when a golden flash caught the corner of his eyes as his golem appeared next to him. "You made it!" The night before Allen had told Tim to follow him with discretion and meet up with him the arena but he was worried the Golem wouldn't make it. Tim nudged Allen affectionately.

"Yeah I missed you too. Could you find Katniss for me? I'm completely lost." Tim gave an over exaggerated nod and swept into dense green foliage filling the forest. A few moments later the little Golem reappeared flapping his golden wings urgently. Allen tensed, his golem didn't get irritated without cause.  

"Lead the way!" He ran after the flash of gold crashing through the jungle towards Katniss.

If the golem was nervous then it could mean only one thing. Katniss was in danger.

* * *

"Peeta!" Katniss screamed "Peeta wake up!" Finnick pushed her roughly out of the way and began pumping the spot above Peeta's stopped heart. At first there was only panic in Katniss's mind and she drew an arrow ready to shoot Finnick but then Peeta gasped and his eyes flutter open.

"Careful there's a force field up there." Peeta coughed. Katnissed laughed weakly as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You hit the force field and flew back, you were dead Peeta!" Choked sobbing noises escaped her throat much to her fury. Katniss didn't cry, she was strong, she had to be.

"Are you okay Katniss?" Peeta asked gently.

"She's fine it's just the hormones from the baby." Katniss glared at Finnick. He saved Peeta's life twice now. How would Katniss kill him when their alliance crumbled? Using the soft green moss Mags handed her Katniss blew her nose and wiped her messy face. Finnick's eyes widened in alarm and he grabbed the trident he had dropped ready to throw it.

"Katniss! Are you okay?" The pale figure of Allen Walker fell out of a nearby bush. He looked distinctly comical with leaves tangled into his hair and a startled expression on his face as he tripped and fell in front of Finnick.

"Allen?" Katniss held up a hand to prevent Finnick from skewering him. "How did you find us?" He sat up crossing his leg.

"Tim led me here." He held out his hand allowing the golden golem fly into his hand.

"What is that?" Finnick asked.

"Timcanpy is a golem don't worry he's not dangerous, helpful though." He explained as Tim chewed his hand affectionately. "My friend invented him." To Katniss's amusement Finnick still looked skeptical and hovered over the creature with his trident ready to spear it if the golem tried anything. The charming, strong, sweetheart of the Captiol was threatened by a tiny flying golden ball no bigger than his fist.

Allen turned his gaze to Peeta looking concerned.

"Is he okay?" Peeta nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine. They have a force field around the arena I wouldn't recommend touching it." He laughed weakly and Katniss helped him to his feet.

"You don't know where we can find freshwater do you?" Finnick asked.

"Nope!" Allen said with too much enthusiasm for Katniss.

Finnick snorted distastefully.

"Well we should keep moving. We need to find a good camping spot before sundown. Katniss you could tell where the force field was couldn't you." Katniss nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to reveal what Beetee and Wiress had shown her about the distortion in the force field so she decided to make up a story.

"I could hear it. I sounds a lot like the electric fence in 12 but quieter. Can't you guys hear it?" They shook their heads. "That's odd come to think of it I can only hear it from my left ear you know the one the Capitol surgeons fixed after the first Game."

 _That should keep the Capitol focused on the poor surgeons who had the misfortune of fixing my ear._ She thought. Their group accepted her story and let her lead them to prevent anymore unpleasant run ins with the force field. Katniss cautiously tossed nuts at the air in front of them to be safe.

They soon found that the small nuts Katniss was originally using to check the location of the force field were edible much to Allen's delight. Katniss noticed that Finnick stayed in the back and kept a wary eye on the boy as he shared armfuls of nuts with Mags. After a quick climb to the top of a tree Katniss was able to confirm that they were in a dome shaped arena with the perfect wheel in the middle that was the Cornucopia.

After a few hundred more yards of walking Mags and Peeta were too tired to go on so Finnick, Katniss, and Allen helped set up camp. They still hadn't found any water. That wasn't good. Katniss was getting thirsty and she could tell her allies were started to get dehydrated.

Katniss went out hunting and returned with a squirrel like rodent which they threw against the force field to cook. Finnick and Mags had made them a comfortable area with walls and a roof woven from grass.

All five of them sat in a circle resting after the meal wishing they had something to wash it down with.

Awkward conversation was made to keep things casual but nothing was going to change the fact that this was going to a be a long and hard game. 


	10. Chapter 10

Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of the cannon signaling the death of tributes ripped through the group of five.

Katniss held her breath and counted waiting for the total bloodbath toll to be announced.

Silence.

 _That's odd…_  She thought,  _only three_. That wasn't possible was it? Last year in the games half the tributes had died in the initial blood bath at the Cornucopia.

"Three?" Peeta asked. Finnick narrowed his eyes at Allen.

"You did something didn't you?" Allen looked up innocently from his meal consisting of force field fried nuts.

"Don't know what you mean." He said with a smile. Sometimes Allen unnerved Katniss for reasons she couldn't really explain. Yet despite she had still allowed him to join their alliance despite her unease.

"Don't play dumb with me." Finnick's voice was wary. "You… you stopped my trident with one hand when it should have skewered you whole, how? Where did you learn to fight?" Finnick's voice almost sounded mildly offended that Allen had busted his trusty trident. Katniss wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not but a dark aura seemed to creep up around Allen.

He chuckled evilly and started to mutter something about stupid masters, and cursed debt. Timcanpy slapped Allen with its tail and that seemed to snap the young teen out of it.

"Sorry wha? Oh yeah. I learned to fight doing my job and when I was training with my master. And as for the Cornucopia I just tried to make sure there weren't any unnecessary death." He shrugged like it was not big deal.

"Is your left arm a prosthetic?" Finnick asked.

"You mean like a fake arm? No it's mine." Finnick examined the lean youth up and down clearly unconvinced. Katniss knew that Allen's arm was Innocence but she doubted Finnick would accept the story Allen had gave her about coming from a different world, not when she wasn't even sure she believed him a hundred percent.

"Look I know Katniss seems to trust you," Finnick gave Katniss a look that made her frown at him. "But if we are going to be allies in the games you need to be honest enough with me that I don't decide throw my trident into that pretty head of yours. Katniss might have decided not to put an arrow through your eye but I haven't made my decision yet." Finnick eyed Allen's scaly black hand with the green cross embedded into it pursing his lips. Katniss noticed the teen pull his arm closer to his body covering it with his right hand.

Allen kept his face politely blank as he pondered how he should answer Finnick's question. He doubted that he would be able to make it through the entire game without being forced to activate his Innocence. Perhaps if he was only dealing with ordinary humans it would be safe but the arena was filled with unnatural horrors that he didn't fully understand. Their environment was false, capable of being manipulated at Gamemakers sick will. He knew he would not protect his secret at the expense of a life. Perhaps it was for the best that he explain himself earlier on when there was a semblance of calm instead of in the heat of battle where loyalties would be frail and nerves frayed. Allen signed in resignation.

"You want the truth and I won't lie but I can't promise you will believe me." He said levely meeting Finnick's piercing gaze head on. The warrior nodded. "I was born with this deformed arm. My parents abandoned me because of it. My arm is made out of a special substance called Innocence. It's a incredibly strong substance, incapable of being destroyed by normal weaponry." He searched his ally's eyes trying to see if the man believed him. The intelligent green eyes were focused and contemplative.

"What exactly is Innocence?" Allen paused. How was he going to explain Innocence without explaining about Akuma then it would ultimately lead him being forced to explain his origins. He promised not to lie but nor was the Exorcist willing to divulge the entire truth.

"It's a special substance very few people can wield." He explained vaguely. Finnick snorted disdainfully knowing that Allen was refusing to answer his question directly without breaking his vow to tell the truth.

The group let the conversation come to a stop. The night sky projected the faces of the dead tributes, the drunken man from 5 and both tributes from 8. Allen closed his eyes remembering each of their faces. He muttered a silent apology leaning against a tree closing his eyes. Timcanpy made himself comfortable in his master's silky locks.

Katniss pressed her cheek against the cool grass mat Finnick and Mags had woven for them. It cooled down bur burning face nicely. Technically Finnick was supposed to have first watch and the rest could get some sleep but she knew that everyone lay awake due to the heat and their thirst. Suddenly a small silver parachute appeared, floating down gently to the center of their circle. Allen's eyes shot open and he approached it carefully.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I gift from our mentors and sponsors." Peeta provided. Katniss opened it to find a hollow metal tube with an opening like the end of children's slides on one end.

"What is that?" Finnick asked. Allen took the metal tube in his hand and examined it.

"It's a spile." Allen decided. Katniss almost smacked herself. Of course it was. She grabbed it from him and walked over to the nearest tree pounding it into the wood. At first nothing happened but then a gentle trickle of water fell, turning into a steady stream. They all whooped in glee but silenced themselves as soon as they realized they were in the arena and could potentially give their position away to enemy parties. After everyone drank their fill of water Katniss could see their mood improved considerably.

Finnick offered to keep watch so Katniss settled down in the soft grass mats. She felt exhaustion catch up with her and as she closed her eyes she noticed that while Allen was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed he was definitely wide awake.

Bong! Bong! Bong! A sound like a gong jerked Katniss awake. Mags and Peeta were still sleeping but Finnick and Allen were alert and counting just like her. 12 bongs rang out before silence fell again.

"One for each district?" Katniss asked confused. There didn't seem to be any purpose to the gong, at least not so far. Finnick shrugged. After a few moments a massive lightening bolt seared across the sky leaving black trails in Ketniss's eyes. The bolt struck the tallest tree in the arena with a crack like a whip.  _Probably rain for all the other tributes without spiles_. She thought. The Gamemakers couldn't have all the tribute die of dehydration. That wouldn't be any fun.

"I'll take the watch from here Finnick." Katniss offered. He shuffled uncomfortably. "Don't worry I've got it." She reassured. He nodded and curled up with his trident in hand. Allen went back to leaning on his tree but Katniss noticed he still wasn't asleep.

The lightning stopped to be replaced the pounding of rain a few hundred yards away. She waited quietly for the rain to reach them but it never did. Suddenly the sound of a cannon ripped through the air. Another tribute was dead. A frown creased Allen's smooth face and a look of sadness settled over him as he continued to lean against the tree with eyes shut.

Moments after the rain stopped an eerie mist began creeping towards them. The hairs on the back of Katniss's neck stand up. Something was wrong.

Allen's eyes opened.

"Something isn't right." He frowned noticing the advancing fog. Tendrils reached out as if the mist was prowling towards them like a hungry tiger stalking his prey. Katniss noticed that the fog was advancing in an unnatural straight line. She shouted for everyone to wake up as the first blister started appearing on her skin.

"Get up!" Allen helped Katniss wake everyone. Finnick shot up. Noticing the advancing fog he swung Mags over his shoulder and took off. Despite Peeta's insistence that he was fine Allen could see his movements were slow and sluggish. Katniss tried to support Peeta in an effort to help him run faster. Allen was right behind them. Tim flew around in frantic circles leading the way in front of the group.

The mist was creeping towards them much faster now. Suddenly a burning sensation seared Allen's back. He cried out and stumbled as the acidic mist seeped into his skin. Katniss looked back.

"Come on! Run!" Her voice was panicked. He saw in her wide eyes an animal instinct to run for her life but she stood her ground. Getting back up on his feet Allen plowed forward helping Katniss's efforts in dragging Peeta along. This time it was Allen's turn to look around as he heard a pained cry from behind him. Katniss's arm was jerking as if she was going to have a seizure.

"The gas affects our nerves." Allen's voice was horrified as he realized the white wall creeping towards them was more dangerous than any human enemy. Picking up Peeta on his back ignoring the blonde's protest Allen helped Katniss up and ran catching up to Finnick.

They were making good progress ahead of the gas heading towards the water at the Cornucopia then suddenly something in the air shifted. The mist began advancing rapidly as if propelled by a gust of wind. Allen's silvery eyes widened. The Capitol certainly didn't like him if they were making (at least in his opinion) a rather obvious attempt to finish their group off.

Pushing himself further he grabbed Katniss's wrist and dragged her at unnatural speeds running for the crescent of water glittering in the night that was slowly coming in to view. Flinging Katniss past the woods onto the sandy beach Allen cursed as a call came from behind.

Finnick was struggling to get up as angry red blister peppered his skin, his limbs jerking uncontrollably. The main body of the mist was only a few yards away. Dropping Peeta onto the edge of the beach hoping Katniss would make sure he got to safety Allen sprinted as fast as he could ignoring the searing blisters forming along his right arm and neck. He swung Mags over him and supported Finnick's weight as the fog began catching up.

"Leave me you're not going to make it like this." Finnick croaked. His voice was terrible as if the blisters weren't just on his face and neck but also in his throat.

"Nobody is going to be left behind. Now stop talking and walk." Allen said firmly. But despite his words the fog was lapping at his legs now and the spasm that he had been so far spared from started to jerk his legs slightly. They were only 20 feet from the beach now and Allen could see Katniss's attempt to come back and help crying out to them.

With a great heave Allen threw both Finnick and Mags as hard as he could. They flew rather unceremoniously and landed hard with pained grunts in the sand. Allen felt slightly guilty but it was the best he could do under the circumstances. His legs and arm had started jerking uncontrollably. The only thing that seemed to be working properly was his left arm.

His Innocence seemed to be glow with a faint pulsing light. Although Allen might have been imagining the glow as he had crumpled to the warm forest floor as the mist finally swept over. The horrible burning was all over him. Dark spots began dancing in his eyes. Allen could almost see the self-satisfied smile on President Snow's face as he felt the burning consume him, wiping out his own thoughts.

Hearing the distorted cries of Katniss Allen muttered one last thing before the blackness consumed him.

"Crown Clown activate."

* * *

Katniss glared at the thick foliage hoping against hope that miraculously Allen Walker would just appear out of it unharmed. Mags and Finnick collapsed behind her with grunts. Someone shifted next to her brushing the trail of tears she didn't even know she was shedding. Katniss cursed herself quietly. This was the second time she had cried that day.

"Katniss he's gone." Peeta's voice made it final. A stone dropped in Katniss's stomach. The sweet, naïve boy who actually thought he could get through the games without slaughtering a fellow human was gone. Murdered by the Capitol as he tried to help his allies. He had saved them.

"No." Her voice wasn't shaking, it wasn't even angry. It was just filled with adamant resolution.

"Katniss no one can survive in that poison." Peeta reasoned gently.

"No cannon." Through her prickling eyes she could see Peeta frown.

"You're right I haven't' heard a cannon." The fog was still swirling a few feet away but it had stopped advancing as if it had hit an invisible wall. For a few moments more Katniss just stared at the foggy forest listening to the rhythmic beat of warm, salty waves against the soft sand. Out of the corner of her eye Katniss saw Mags slowly dragging herself towards the water. Mags gently slipped her distorted hands into the water. Her face screwed up in pain but then it relaxed and she crawled further into the waves.

Katniss slowly turned, shoulder slumped and leaning against Peeta for comfort. They must have just missed the cannon within the misty haze of pain induced by the toxic fog.

"Look the water seems to be helping Mags." Peeta pointed to the where the old lady was now sitting half submerged in the salty water. "We should check it out." Katniss nodded. As Peeta led her closer to the shore something white shot past her ear.

It looked like silvery white fabric. The string of fabric latched itself deep into the sand like an anchor. Something large and white flew past her being pulled by the white belt. Finnick, who had been out in a poisoned daze, widened his eyes as a familiar figure with stark white hair crashed on top of him.

"ALLEN!" Katniss cried with shock and joy. She immediately regretted doing so as her throat burned with the effort. The young boy was passed out on the sand next to Finnick. Timcanpy who had been hovering next to her shot forwards to his master nudging him in a worried manner. Allen was surrounded by a strange white cloak that wrapped around his arm and a silver mask hung around his neck. The strangest thing about his appearance was that his left arm had changed into long black talons.

 _That must be his Innocence_. Katniss thought. He had told her about his ability to activate his arm into a weapon but she had no idea what kind of form it would take when he activated it. With a burst of light the cloak vanished and his arm returned to its normal state. Peeta let a gasp escape him.

Allen's smooth porcelain skin was covered in angry blisters and his body was jerking uncontrollably as if electricity coursed through his veins instead of blood. Mags waved energetically at them, gesturing towards the salty water.

"Maybe the water will help him. Come on, help me Katniss." Katniss gently tried to lift the struggling boy and, with Peeta's help, was able to get Allen to the water's edge. As soon as her own foot touched the water Katniss gave a moan of pain. For the first time she appreciated the phrase "rub salt into your wounds." For a moment she thought she might pass out from the pain but as the blackness faded from her vision she noticed white vapors leaching out of her legs and draining into the water.

Peeta was also grunting in pain as he slowly immersed himself in the water and dragged Allen along with him. Allen gave an agonized cry as a repulsive amount of white wisps leaked out of his legs then his torso, arms, and neck. His uncontrolled jerking intensified as he struggled to get away from the pain. Katniss and Peeta held him forcefully helping to wash the toxin out of his body. The effect was instant. The spasm stopped and the pain slowly ebbed away.

Allen was still out cold so Katniss focused on using seashells to gently rinse Finnick's body with the salty water to ease the tendrils of poison out of his limbs. Soon he was conscious and blinked groggily sitting up taking in their situation.

Katniss noticed for the first time that the glowing light of the moon illuminated their party clearly. If the career pack attacked them now they would vulnerable. Looking around nervously a groan drew Katniss, Finnick, and Peeta's attention. Allen was sitting up rubbing his forehead like he was trying to get rid of a headache. Noticing his fellow tributes he gave a sheepish grin.

"I see everyone made it out in one piece." Allen said trying to sound lighthearted. Finnick usually calm, cool composure was gone. He was opening gawking at the white haired teen.

"You're not dead." He said.

Allen frowned at his hands looking over his body.

"I don't think I am." Peeta raised an eyebrow while Mags just sucked her thumb happily.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as you might have noticed Mags is not dead (don't kill me) I just think her death was one of the more unnecessary ones and with Allen there I don't think he would let her die.


	11. Chapter 11

"So you are an 'Exorcist' that comes from a different world and you fight against an evil guy named the Millennium Earl. You have an arm made of Innocence that you were born with so you can destroy Akuma?" Finnick summarized for Allen after he gave the group an abbreviated version of his identity. "Anything I missed?"

"Um no, I don't think so." Allen smiled nervously bracing himself for the avalanche of disbelieving cries and calls for his sanity to be reexamined.

"Okay then. Okay." Finnick got up from the sand, walking resolutely towards the ocean. Allen briefly entertained the idea that the man had decided to drown himself. 

"Uh okay? That's it?" Allen tried to prod out his expected reaction. The blond shrugged.

"I can tell when someone is lying. You believe what you are saying if nothing else. Trust me, I know how crazy people act and unfortunately for me you're definitely sane. At least by the clinical definition." he mumbled.

"Peeta?" Allen sounded like he was hoping the baker would say that he was definitely crazy so Allen could return to the routine he had learned when he explained his situation as an exorcist.

"Finnick's right." He said with a shrug. "Plus you saved all of our lives so you're good in my books. No reason you would lie to us right?" His smile was so kind Allen wasn't even sure how to respond for a few seconds.

"Katniss?" Finnick asked the only silent member of their group, besides Mags who busy examining seashells, occasionally muttering phrases like "shiny" or "ooo like this one".

"Allen told me this a while ago. I believed him then I still believe him now." That ended their conversation. The calm accepting demeanor in which Allen's teammates responded, made him feel lighter, as if a weight was lifted off his shoulder he wasn't aware was even there.

"Hey I'm pretty thirsty I'll go tap some water." Peeta offered. The group nodded. For a while all Allen could hear was the clang of the spile being driven into a tree. Something rustled in the woods catching Allen's attention. He turned his head quizzically towards the woods. Something orange caught the corner of his eye.

"Katniss do you see anything wrong in the forest?" He asked. Hearing the concern in Allen's voice Katniss turned, narrowing her eyes at the jungle.

"What's wrong?" Finnick joined them.

"There's something in the woods…" Katniss trailed off trying to spot something. Something shifted the broad leaves apart and two glowing red, menacing eyes peeked at them from between the canopy. "Peeta's in trouble." Katniss shouted. She leapt up running towards Peeta's position with two arrows already nocked in her bow.

"Stay here okay Mags?" Allen asked kindly making sure the elderly women was going to stay put on the safety of the beach. He motioned for Tim to stay with her before nodding to Finnick and following Katniss into the woods. Finnick readied his trident but before Allen activated his Innocence Katniss held out a hand halting their progress. Peeta was only a few yards away and their mysterious enemy hadn't attacked yet.

Allen didn't dare look up in fear of aggravating what he now realized were monkeys. He had seen some forest monkeys when he was traveling with Cross but none had such bright orange fur, and such malice their eyes.

"There's something wrong with these monkeys." He whispered to Katniss who was calling in a voice of forced calm for Peeta to join them.

"They're mutts." She whispered back. Peeta had started to edge back towards his group hearing the forced calm in Katniss's voice.

"What are mutts." Allen whispered back still keeping his eyes glued to the damp ground instead of the monkeys. He could feel their gaze on him making the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

"They're genetically modified monsters creating by the Capitol for war." Allen frowned in disapproval. Peeta was making progress toward the group. Allen was starting to hope that they could back out of the forest without having to confront the crazed mutant monkeys but he really should have known better by then, nothing he tried to do could be easy.

Peeta only glanced up at the monkeys for less than a millisecond but it was as if he had fired a shot into their midst. Fast as cheetahs and with crazed ferocity the monkeys lashed out screeching their fury into the night sky. With a flash of light around him Allen shrouded himself with the glowing form of his Innocence.

Katniss took down one monkey with every shot. Finnick was equally impressive with his trident. The tree tips glinted with a deadly light as it became stained with crimson blood. Peeta hacked away with his long knife ignoring the sheath of arrows on his back. One lashed out at Katniss and left a long gash on her shins. With one swift swipe Allen sent the monkey flying into the canopy. It didn't rejoin the fight.

Allen used his long black claws of knock away any monkeys that came too close but a part of him was reluctant to outright kill the beasts. Katniss must have noticed his reluctance because she shouted.

"Allen these monsters don't have souls, they're just killing machines bred to murder tributes for entertainment. You said you wanted to protect us right? We need you now!" He froze for a moment. Katniss was right. It was part of the cruelty of the Games. It didn't matter how hard anyone tried there was always going to be death and carnage left in the wake of the Hunger Games. Haymitch was right, there were survivors in the Games, but never Victors.

No one wins.

Allen twisted through the mass of oncoming monkeys registering the smell of sweat and blood as the jungle became filled with the screeches and cried of Mutts and humans alike. Allen's mind became hazy as he focused on the only thing that mattered right then, keeping his friends alive. Crown Clown protected him from most of the monkey's claws and fangs but a one monkey managed to leave a deep cut near Allen's ankles. He barley even felt the pain but could feel the warm liquid stain his feet making the trampled plants slippery.

"Peeta your arrows!" He heard Katniss shout behind him. She was standing back to back with Finnick but she had only a knife left her supply of arrows completely exhausted. Peeta was about to slip his spare sheath from his back when a large male monkey leapt towards him.

With his armed hand occupied with the sheath and Finnick occupied Katniss threw her knife in desperation but the Mutt avoided it with ease, claws outstretched to rip Peeta's chest. Katniss started running towards Peeta. Allen knew she wouldn't reach him in time. He tried to shoot Crown Belt at the monkey in hopes of pulling it away from its target but a camouflaged figure beat him to it.

The morphling from District 6 materialized next to Peeta her arms outstretch, eyes wide as saucers. She caught the monkey as if embracing it allowing the beast to sink it's fangs into her chest. Ripping his trident from a monkey's chest Finnick charged towards Peeta, Katniss, the dead monkey who had been stabbed by Peeta and a now immobile morphling. Allen was right behind him but before they reached the group he felt something shift behind him.

Torrents of monkeys had gathered and were charging at them in a tidal wave of death. Allen knew that they wouldn't be able to fend off that many attackers. This was his only chance to protect all of them since they were gathered in one place.

"Duck!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Glad that his allies trusted him enough to hit the deck as soon as he gave the command Allen concentrated and spun allowing his cloak to fan out behind him willing it to expand outwards. The silvery fabric shot out like javelins spearing the oncoming monkeys, dropping them to the floor as Allen retracted his cloak.

"Come on!" Peeta shouted the few remaining monkeys but something made them stop. It was as if an invisible voice was calling them back making the monkeys fade back into the foliage now green splattered with drops of red. Soon the only sign left of their battle was the carcasses left on the forest floor and their wounds still adding fresh crimson to the duller red already staining the damp earth.

Allen turned to the group watching Katniss as she picked up the dying morphling and carrying her back towards the safety of the beach. They emerged out of the forest as the first rays of sunlight started illuminated their bloodied figures. Katniss knelt down cradling the suffocating women in her arms as if she was holding a young child.

"It's okay your safe now." Allen was surprised at the softness in her voice as she tried to calm the women down. He sat down next to them smiling at the sickly pale tribute. She seemed to calm slightly fascinated with his snowy white hair.

Allen ignored her blood covered fingers as she twirled a loose lock of hair framing his face.

"Thank you." He said softly. "You protected Peeta, that was very brave." Mags hovered nearby, her usual happy expression turned solemn.

His eyes locked with Katniss for a moment and he saw the confusion and desperation in her eyes. Allen stroked his hand across the morphling's check sweeping away the blood and tears streaming down it. Her eyes locked with his and she gazed into his own silvery eyes with such intensity it made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't look away. She raised her hand tracing his scar from his forehead, down his eye, curving along his cheek, and following down to his jaw.

He smiled down at her. Closing his eyes he recited the 14th melody in his head allowing him, Katniss, and the morphling to be swallowed in white light. Allen knew he wouldn't be able to make an ark door he had tried many times before but he had a different objective this time.

As the glow enveloped them soft piano music drifted around them. Katniss's eyes widened in shock. Allen lifted a finger to his lips signaling for her to stay calm. Looking back down at the morphling Allen noticed her breathing had evened out and she was now gazing transfixed on the beautiful glow of white tinged with the colors of the rising sun. Slowly Allen began to sing.

Soshite bouyaha nemurini tsuite  
Ikizuku haino nakano hono o hitotsu, futatsuto  
Ukabu fukurami itoshi yokogao  
Daichini taruru ikusenno yume, yume

The melancholy song of the 14th echoed around them in a language neither Katniss nor the morphling could understand but the dying women seemed calmed by the soft sound. Slowly her eyes closed and a faint smile tugged on her lips before she let out one last puff of air and stilled leaving only a bloodied body and the ghost of a smile on her face. The cannon rang out. Allen allowed the white glow to fade and watched as Katniss lowered the morphling's body into the water.

A hovercraft soon appeared to take her body away. After a few moments of silence Allen noticed Katniss slipping into the water to wash the gore from her clothes and wounds, following her example Peeta, Finnick, and Allen followed suit. When Allen stepped back onto the soft warm sand Mags returned from the jungle with soft green moss to clean their wounds.

Finnick's arm bore slashes, and Katniss had sustained injuries to her shin and back. Peeta was unharmed expect for a minor cut on his chest. Allen looked down at his own ankle which had stopped bleeding but upon closer analysis he could see that the cut was deep. Nothing he couldn't heal from but he didn't like having a wound that might slow him down in another fight because there was one thing he was sure of.

The Hunger Games were far from over.


	12. Chapter 12

Katniss watched as Timcanpy circled happily around Allen's head as they all enjoyed some bread brought down by a parachute and oysters caught by Finnick. The white haired teen seemed especially enthusiastic after food had been brought into the equation. Suddenly the golem perked up facing the direction of the jungle.

"Someones coming." Allen said. They moved silently as a group retreating into the cover of the jungle. Even Mags stayed quiet and alert, watching as footsteps approached them. Three figures came stumbling out of the forest looking like someone had dunked them in red paint. One figure was dragging the other while the third scarlet silhouette spun in dizzying circles muttering nonsensically. Finnick narrowed his eyes at the trio.

"Johanna!" He shouted in recognition leaving the safety of the bushes walking towards the girl screaming in frustration at the person who was spinning in circles. Katniss glanced at her remaining companions. Before anyone could grab her, Mags followed Finnick onto the beach.

"Well come on we can't leave them." Allen prompted following Finnick example, stepping back out onto the beach. As Katniss got closer her confusion doubled. The two other red figures were Beetee and Wiress. Why would Johanna Mason of all people choose to have those two with her? When Katniss got within earshot she could hear Johanna screaming.

"We thought it was rain but nooo! Of course it couldn't be rain it had to be thick, hot blood. We kept stumbling around this stupid jungle that's when Blight ran into the force field." She stopped for a moment.

"Sorry." Finnick said.

"Oh I didn't know him well but he was from home." Even disguised by the red coat Katniss could see the small creases on Joanna's face. 

"Yeah well he left me to lug these two around. Beetee got slashed by a sword back at the Cornucopia," She motioned at the unconscious figure. "And she won't shut up!" She yelled at Wiress who was stumbling around murmuring,

"Tick, tock. Tick tock." To an amused Mags.

"Yeah Tick, tock we get it." Her voice sent Wiress in her direction and she collided with Johanna who shoved her. Allen caught Wiress before she could fall into the sand.

"You don't need to be so ruff with her." Johanna narrowed her eyes in distain.

"I don't need to be ruff with her." She echoed mockingly. "What's it to you albino? Who do you think dragged them out of the jungle for her huh?" Johanna cried pointing fiercely at Katniss.  _For me?_  Why would Johanna drag Beetee and Wiress around for her?

Before Johanna could start yelling again Finnick picked her up walking into the salty water and dunking her in until the red, which Katniss now knew was blood, came off and she was clean once more. Allen just sighed and picked Wiress up gently helping rinse her off too. Katniss walked over to Beetee and got him into the water with peeta's help. She noticed a metal cylinder on the inventor's belt, unsure of its purpose she set it aside in the sand.

She continued to strip off the jumpsuit and rinse the blood from both the fabric and Beetee's body. Katniss wandered into the jungle to grab some moss and vines to bandage Beetee to the best of her abilities, but with the strange tropical plants she had no knowledge of, that was all she could do. Settling down to get some rest after an ample amount of food and continued complaints -courtesy of Johanna Mason- Katniss offered to take guard duty.

Johanna appeared to have no intention of laying down. Much to Katniss's displeasure, the angry tribute chose to next to her for the watch.

"Allen you should really get some sleep." She called to the teen as he talked to Wiress. He looked up. Katniss noticed that he had an unnerving effect on Wiress. Moments ago she was muttering "Tick tock" in a panicked rate now she was lying down curled up next to Mags and almost asleep.

"I did, you and Finnick took first watch." Katniss just rolled her eyes.

"Actually sleep, not pretend." A light pink was visible on cheeks even in the dying light. "Please we need every fighter to be in top shape." Johanna snorted at the "fighter" comment but Katniss ignored her. Allen shrugged.

"Fine but wake me up if you think something's wrong." He said before finally settling down the soft sand with Timcanpy nestled in the curls of his hair. As night rolled in a comfortable silence settled over Katniss and Johanna as the rest of their group slept but a burning question in the back of Katniss's head wouldn't let her keep the silence.

"Why did you have Nuts and Volts with you?" She asked. Johanna raised an eyebrow.

"I got them for you." She repeated. "Haymitch said that if I wanted to be allies with you I had to bring them. You told him to say that right?" Actually Katniss hadn't but she nodded as if this was her plan all along. Johanna glared at her as if Katniss was the worst thing that happened in her life, which seemed a stretch. A few more moments of silence and Wiress crawled over apparently having woken up.

"Good she can keep you company now." Johanna said retreating back to lie on the ground.

"Tick, tock." She said sleepily.

"Tick, tock." Katniss echoed. The sun slipped up lighting up the arena once more, glancing to her side Katniss noticed the gentle lapping of the waves had lulled Wiress back to sleep. The sun crawled higher. A huge wave appeared out of nowhere in one of the pie sections across from her. The wave crashed down like a tsunami until it smashed into an invisible wall near the Cornucopia and slowly ebbed away.

A cannon rang out and a Capitol hovercraft appeared to collect the body of a tribute. Drowned.  

Katniss turned expecting the noise to wake some of her companions but Finnick was clearly too tired for anything to wake him, Peeta and Mags were their usually oblivious selves, but it concerned Katniss that Allen was still curled up asleep when he was normally such a jumpy sleeper.

He would have looked peaceful and angelic as he slept but Katniss noticed a slight frown creasing his smooth face as if dreaming of something unpleasant. It was probably around noon when lightning struck a tall tree off in the distance in the same area as lighting struck last night.

"Tick, tock." Wiress muttered in her sleep.

"Wait!" Katniss gasped. She stood abruptly scanning the arena in a circle looking at the identical jungle. Her shout and abrupt movement must have woken Allen because he sat up with a wince rubbing his head.

"What's wrong Katniss." When she turned to take a closer look the boy's pallor was even paler than normal. She turned her head away while Allen was rubbing is eyes to prevent being caught staring.

"You okay?" She asked casually. 

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm fine, just a dream. What were you shouting about?"

"The arena it's a clock." Allen's eyes widened in realization as he copied Katniss and got up to scan the arena in a circle.

"Your right. A new threat every hour." Katniss nodded her approval.

"Wake the others." Soon everyone was alert and listening to Katniss as she explained her theory.

Wiress nodded vigorously as her muttered "Tick, tocks." Were finally understood.

"Midnight." Wiress said.

"Yes. Midnight and noon the lighting hits the tree followed by the blood rain, the fog, the monkeys, and umm," she paused glancing at Johanna. "Did you guys see anything else."

"Nope." She said curtly. Katniss remembered the giant wave she saw when she was guarding.

"There's a giant wave around… ten I think." She said pointing to the section of the arena where the wave came through. "It took a tribute while you guys were sleeping."

"Good." Johanna said. Allen frowned in her direction.

"There's nothing good about people dying." He rebuked. Johanna glared at him threateningly but he didn't back down.

"There's everything good about an  _enemy_  dying." Allen sighed realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with Johanna and gave his attention to Katniss. She looked towards the jungle where the blood rain was pattering against the canopy. After that shut off it would be the fog and they were still sitting on the beach where the monkeys were. It was too close for comfort.

"We need to get moving we should try to get to the Cornucopia and figure out where to go from there."

"Who died and made you the boss of our alliance?" Johanna snapped.

"Come one Johanna she has a point plus with eight of us now we should stock up on supplies." Finnick said trying to sound reasonable. Johanna huffed unhappily.

"You know I could make that seven of us." She said glaring at Allen rubbing her knuckles.

"I'd like to see you try." Katniss blinked at his tone, uncharacteristic aggression shining through. Allen looked just as surprised as Katniss felt, looking away from Joanna but without a stuttered apology. 

Katniss gave an exasperated sigh and started backing up along with the rest of the group as they started walking along the beach to the nearest strip of land that would lead them back to the golden horn glowing in the sun. Peeta sent Wiress to wash off the metal cylinder that Beetee had, she did so while singing a happy little tune Katniss have never heard before.

"Oh not that stupid song again." Johanna moaned as she picked up two wicked looking axes. Peeta brought a large broad leaf from the jungle and carved a rough map out of it with his knife. Katniss joined him with Finnick, Peeta, Johanna, Beetee and Allen. Mags was still buried in weapons inside the Cornucopia trying to find something to her liking.

"So at twelve the lighting strikes the tree," Peeta said marking the leaf. "Followed by blood rain, poison fog, monkeys, and at ten wave." He continued marking the leaf.

"The tail of the cornucopia points at twelve." Allen commented pointing at the horn. Peeta drew a small Cornucopia and pointed the tail at where the twelve a clock would have been on a regular clock.

"Well we don't know that's in the other sections but it's a much better if we compare it to what we knew this morning." Everyone nodded in agreement.

Silence.

Before any of her companions could react Katniss pulled an arrow out letting it fly and embed itself in Gloss's temple who was standing over Wiress holding a bloody knife. He fell sideways along with Wiress, her throat slit spilling crimson onto the sand. Boom! Boom! The cannon announced their death.

Allen cursed as his Innocence activated and surrounded him. Johanna let her ax fly towards Cashemere but a silvery cloak knocked it away.

"Traitor!" She screamed at Allen. Finnick grunted as a knife lodged itself in his thigh, courtesy of Enobaria, but knocked away the spear heading for Peeta thrown by Brutus. Cashmere threw a knife at an unsuspecting Mags but before it could reach its target Allen knocked the knife away with his left hand. The three remaining members of the career pack ran towards the woods.

Just as Katniss was about to give chase the ground was ripped out from under her, quite literally. Her face slammed the sand hard and she held on as tight as she could as the Cornucopia spun at a sickening speed. Just when Katniss felt as if she was going to be flung away the spinning motion stopped abruptly with no buffer. Katniss rolled in the sand coughing and nauseous trying to reorient herself.

When she felt confident enough to sit up she noticed her other allies were all still on the beach. Allen had held on to the beach while using a strip of Innocence to ensure Beetee didn't get flung into the water. Johanna, Peeta and Finnick had dug their weapons into the earth to anchor themselves. Mags managed to cling to the walls of the Cornucopia and the two bodies of Wiress and Gloss were washed away into the ocean. Everyone seemed to have their weapons secure but then sudden realization washed over Katniss. The metal cylinder that held Beetee's precious wire was still in Wiress's grip. Without thinking she dove into the salty waves and swam across the waves as fast as she could to retrieve the wire.

"Good bye." Katniss whispered to Wiress's lifeless body before prying the cylinder away and swimming back to the shore. She noticed that two of her allies were yelling at each other. Johanna was waving her axes threateningly at Allen while he put his hands up in a defensive gesture. Katniss mentally sighed. The Games were tearing everything apart: district mates, families, friends, enemies, and allies. Their alliance was falling apart and Katniss wasn't sure how much longer she could make it last.

No.

She wasn't sure how long she  _wanted_  it to last.

As she approached the beach where her allies were bickering and shouting Katniss hoped that everything would last long enough for her to secure Peeta's future.


	13. Chapter 13

"What the HELL is wrong with you!?" Johanna was screaming at the top of her lungs at Allen as Katniss walked onto the beach with Beetee's wire in hand. Johanna had exploded like a bomb at Allen Walker for blocking her ax from reaching Cashmere when they were being attacked by the career pack.

"Sorry! But I already said I'm not killing anyone and I'm not going to stand by and let someone die either!" Allen yelled back. Innocence still activated staring defiantly at Johanna. His injured ankle that was pierced by the monkeys had started to bleed again but Allen ignored it. Katniss was alarmed when Johanna started advancing towards Allen, ax raised high in the air.

"Johanna stop! You can't skill our allies." Katniss tried to reason.

"Watch me! I don't care if you're knocked up right now, I will rip your throat out as soon as I'm done with this MORON!" Her ax went whirling out of her hand, knocked to the ground by a silvery cloak. She swung her other ax, bringing it down on the teen with enough force to split a wooden log in half.

Allen caught it with his clawed hand inches away from his face. Johanna drew her ax back to swing again but Allen dropped to the ground and swept her feet out from under her. She recovered almost instantly swinging her ax in an arc. Allen artfully ducked away. Johanna tried to bring her empty hand around in a punch but it was caught by Allen's clawed left hand. Johanna growled.

"What the hell is that anyway?" She snarled at the razor sharp talons circled around her fist.

"Long story. I'll tell you if you stop trying to kill me." Allen offered. Johanna snorted. She spun bringing the ax sideways aiming for Allen's side but his long cloak intercepted her. Undeterred Johanna kicked outwards actually landing a blow on his stomach. With a huff of hair Allen stumbled back but recovered in time to parry the punch Johanna aimed at him.

The ax came down once more; Forcing Allen to flip backwards out of range of Johanna's attacks. She roared in frustration and dashed forward relentlessly. The decent, caring part of Katniss thought she should stop the ridiculous fight. The sane and self-preserving part decided it wasn't in the interest of her safety. 

Johanna continued to slash and jab at Allen as he nimbly dodged each blow without hurting Johanna. The fact that he wasn't attacking back was only successful in pissing off Johanna further. Timcanpy flew forward in a flash of gold and bit down on the hand still holding onto Johanna's ax. She gave a pained cry and dropped her weapon, making the most of this opportunity Allen dashed forward to pick up her ax and retrieve the other Johanna had thrown earlier holding them high above his head.

"Are you done." He asked warily.

"FINE!" Johann roared in anger and frustration. She walked over to retrieve her weapons and Allen handed them back with only a small hint of hesitation. At this point Mags and Beetee deemed it safe to join them.

"Just remember that the next time you interfere with me I'll rip you to shreds got it Beansprout?" Allen stiffened. Katniss couldn't help but notice that Johanna had touched a nerve.

"The. Name's. Allen." He said through gritted teeth.

"What? Don't like being a useless midget?" Johanna cooed. Allen took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself down and deactivated his Innocence. The silvery cloak vanished and his hand reverted back to normal.

"You two gonna start acting like civilized human beings now?" Finnick asked. Katniss glared at him. The gorgeous tribute from 7 had stood by with an amused grin on his face as he watched the one sided fight with no inclination of helping.

"I was always acting like a civilized human." Allen said bluntly. Johanna was about to open her mouth to argue but Peeta cut her off.

"Let's just get off this stupid island." Everyone nodded their agreement.

"We should head to the twelve o'clock section." Katniss said. "It's stopped raining so the poisonous fog is probably activated meaning it's around two. If we stay in the twelve a clock section that would give us the most time to rest without any threats." Katniss reasoned. As soon as she finished Peeta, Finnick, Allen, and Johanna stepped in four different directions.

"The tail of the Cornucopia point to twelve." Peeta rationalized.

"But they spun the Cornucopia. I think judging by the sun is more accurate." Finnick pointed at the glowing disk with his trident for emphasis. 

"But the sun only tells us that's it's around four." 

"Yes. Knowing that it is four o'clock in the day doesn't necessarily mean we know the four o'clock on the arena. It gives us a general idea of the direction but the Gamemakers have complete control over the arena which mean we have to consider the possibility that they also spun the outer ring of the jungle when the spun the Cornucopia." Beetee analyzed. Katniss was surprised at the amount of thought Beetee and put into their problem in such a short amount of time but shook herself out of her stupor quickly.

"So we have no idea which path leads to twelve a clock is the bottom line." Katniss summarized mildly annoyed with the lack of knowledge they possessed. Allen glanced at Timcanpy whom Katniss knew had a better sense of direction.

"Tim you know where twelve is?" He asked without much hope in his voice. The golem flew in a few circles but ended up settling itself in Allen's hair. Katniss wasn't sure if a golden ball could look discouraged but Timcanpy seemed to be giving it a good try.

"Oh who cares let's just pick a path and get off this stupid island." Johanna said harshly. They ended up picking a completely random path and following it onto a section of beach. Allen filled Beetee and Johanna in on his identity. Johanna had scoffed disbelievingly at first but after Peeta, Finnick, and Katniss all vouched for him (Even Mags had nodded enthusiastically) she just gave an annoyed grunt and kept walking.

"I'll go tap a tree I think all of us could use some fresh water. You can come with me Katniss." Finnick said.

"I'll start on a new map with Peeta the last one was washed away when they spun us." Johanna added bitterly. "We don't know that's in the jungle so Mags and Volts should stay with me on the beach."

"Right, and Allen you come with us." Finnick said with an air of finality. Allen looked reluctant for a moment like he was worried Johanna would gut Mags and Beetee as soon as he left. Katniss knew that Peeta's kind heart would guarantee their allies' safety while she was gone with Finnick and Allen, even so Allen left Timcanpy behind to keep an eye on things.

As they started towards the jungle an uneasy feeling settled over Katniss. Was this a clever ploy to separate her from Peeta?  _No that's just silly._  Katniss chided herself. She could easily overpower Finnick with Allen's help if he was busy tapping a tree.

Peeta was much stronger and larger than Johanna making her a bad candidate to take him out.  _Plus Timcanpy is there to bite Johanna's hand again if she tries anything_ , Katniss added as an afterthought. Finnick had made sure Peeta was in the safety of the beach with Johanna to look out for him. If anything it seemed as if… A thought slammed into Katniss like a train had smashed into her brain at top speed. The other tributes were protecting Peeta.

But why?

Perhaps Haymitch had convinced them that Peeta's uncanny ability to move a crowd with his words would help kindle the flames of rebellion in Panem. Yes it would make sense. Finnick had knocked away the spear aimed for Peeta when they were fighting the careers on the Cornucopia even though it meant that he would have to take Enobaria's knife, injuring his leg. An injury that was currently being bandaged by Finnick using moss and vines he had grabbed as they walked through the jungle.

"Katniss spile please." Finnick asked snapping Katniss out of her thoughts. She fumbled with the metal tube secured around her waist by vines and held it out for Finnick. Before he could take it however a gut wrenching scream pierced the woods. The metal contraption clattered to the earth. Katnissed went tearing through the forest, sprinting as fast as possible towards the source of the terrible scream. All logical thought was wiped clean from her mind. She only knew one thing. She had to get to the source of the scream.

She had to save her sister.

* * *

President Snow sat in his ornate chair staring intently at the holographic screen.

The screen showed a young girl with braided dark hair running desperately through the humid jungle trying to save something that wasn't there. However as much as this girl interested him Snow had eyes for a different tribute at that moment. The boy with snowy white hair still standing next to the handsome Finnick Odair staring at the spot Katniss had been a moment before. He stood frozen but another scream ripped through the arena. Snow smiled as the teen ran after his companion.

It was rather unfortunate that Snow couldn't obtain the cries of his loved ones but a little something extra he had added himself would ensure this challenge be interesting. After all the fog, the monkeys, and even the fight with the career pack had failed to end the life of the two individuals whom Snow despised so much.

Walker was a skilled fighter that much was certain from the footage Snow had seen and the truth of his identity now revealed to Snow by the teen's own words. Of course anything Walker said about another world was carefully edited out. The last thing the president needed was for there to be a panic in the Capitol.

If he couldn't break these rebels with poison, fangs, or knives he would break them from the inside.

After all the Hunger Games tended to stretch the metal capacity of its participants.

* * *

At first Allen was confused but as the second scream echoed around him he realized why the voice seemed familiar. It was Prim's. But that couldn't be her scream. The citizens of the Capitol, so in love with Katniss, Peeta, and of course their family, would never stand for the capture and torture of Katniss's younger sister. It had to be some kind of prerecorded voice. Allen sprinted after Katniss trying to catch up. He cursed quietly, his ankle throbbing as he strained his injury.

"Prim!" Allen could hear Katniss crying out desperately running ahead of him.

"What's going on?" Finnick yelled from behind trying to keep up with Allen's rapid pace. Suddenly the screams die away and Allen caught up to Katniss. She was holding the corpse of a strange bird he had never seen before.

"What is that?" He asked.

"Jabberjay. Mutts created by the Capitol to imitate voices." She explained tossing the bird aside with disgust. She was panting and her eyes were still full of fear even though the screaming had ceased. Suddenly another scream, a different one pierced the trees. This time it was Finnick who sprinted in the direction of the scream.

"No Finnick it's not real!" Katniss tried to grab his arm but Finnick was already off.

"Come on." Allen grabbed her wrist and chased after the District 7 tribute. When they arrived he was pacing a tree furiously trying to reach the bird still screaming on one of the branches. It seemed to mock Finnick with beady black eyes torturing its victim knowing he couldn't reach it. Katniss let an arrow fly. The bird fell to the ground with an arrow in its neck. Allen knelt down trying to comfort Finnick.

"It's not real Finnick. Come on, let's get out of here." Finnick glared at Allen but something was missing from the usual intense green eyes.

"Allen," Finnick began his voice oddly hollow. "Jabberjays replay the sounds they heard. Where do you think these Jays heard those screams." Katniss's eyes widened.

"No you don't think." She gasped hands over her mouth. Allen glanced from one person to the other. Finally it clicked.

"They can't." He protested. But he knew that they could. From his short conversation with the President he knew that the man would do anything as long as he achieved the outcome he wanted. Katniss fell to the forest floor.

"No… Prim." Another scream echoed through. Allen recognized this one. He remember a similar pained cry emanating from the boy he and Katniss saved from being whipped to death back in District 12.

"Gale!" Katniss tried running towards the cry but this time Finnick and Allen both grabbed her.

"No it's not real. It's not real." Finnick chanted like a mantra as they ran blindly back towards the beach. Something cool brushed Allen's foot and he looked down alarmed. Misty tendrils floated around them as they ran. The first thought that came into Allen's mind was the poisonous fog but this was different. It wasn't painful to the touch and it stayed at around their knees never rising up to engulf them.

To Allen it didn't matter that the fog wasn't burning them alive at contact. It was placed deliberately there by the Gamemaker and that meant whatever substance it was the mist was not beneficial for their health. The new threat urged him to run faster, propelling the distressed group faster towards the safety of the beach. Even as they sprinted more and more black birds appeared on branches screaming into the sky. Their beady black eyes followed its victims as Allen tried to pry Katniss and Finnick away from the screams that had a horrible, hypnotic effect.

They were so close he could make out Peeta, Johanna, Mags, and Beetee's figures waiting for them on the beach, Timcanpy circling frantically over their heads. Their allies seemed to be creaming words that couldn't reach him.

Crash!

Allen ran headlong into an invisible wall. Katniss cushioned the impact with her shoulder but Finnick ran face first into the barrier and started bleeding profusely through his nose. Lying spread eagled on the mist covered forest floor Allen realized why their friends hadn't come to help. An invisible barrier like a glass wall must have completely surrounded the Jabberjay wedge of the arena. Weapons didn't even make a dent in it. Struggling to rid the dizzying impact of the fall Allen breathed in the milky mist and noticed something that made the hairs on the back of his neck and arms rise.

There was a sickly sweet smell to the mist, the mist that he was now breathing in. Realizing there was something seriously wrong Allen tried to hold his breath, it was already too late. The world slipped away and he was standing in front of a familiar grave. A bloated man with an eerie grin that split his face and spectacles that hid his eyes wobbled towards him. Allen was frozen.

This couldn't be happening, he tried to run away but couldn't move.

"Do you want me to revive Mana Walker?" The clown like man asked in a sing song manner. It was happening all over again.


	14. Chapter 14

_A bloated man with an eerie grin that split his face and spectacles that hid his eyes wobbled towards him. Allen was frozen. This couldn't be happening, he tried to run away but couldn't move._

" _Do you want me to revive Mana Walker?" The clown like man asked in a sing song manner. It was happening all over again._

"No!" Allen screamed.

This wasn't real.

It wasn't happening.

He was in the Hunger Games with Katniss, and Finnick. They were running towards their friends on the beach but something happened. What happened? Despite his protests a black skeleton rose out of the earth and the words _Mana_ appeared in fancy cursive on the skeleton's forehead. The skeleton started shaking and it spoke in Allen's surrogate father's voice.

"Allen?" This time dread and sorrow filled him at the sound of his adopted father's voice. "How could you! You turned me into an Akuma." To Allen's horror he could feel the left side of his face explode in pain as if it really had been ripped through by the Akuma's claws.

_This can't be happening._

He tried to reason with himself as his Innocence activated for the first time. A monstrous claw replace his left arm and tore through the black skeleton and the scene dissolved.  _This must be a hallucination._ The world came back into the forest and for once in his life Allen wished he was back in the arena.

Before him was Suman Dark's body dispercing into thin air as black and purple butterflies flew out of his body and into a smiling Noah's palm.

"Yo! Shounen." Tyki Mikk smiled at him, skin dark and black stigmata crossing his forehead. The next thing Allen knew he was lying on his back on the forest floor his left arm gone, destroyed by Tiki's dark matter. He closed his eyes knowing what came next. The cold sensation of something piercing his chest. A horrible scream pierced the air and Allen knew it was his own.

A burning stake was driven into his heart. Pain radiated across his body driving away logical thought leaving only the agony of a hole in his heart as warm blood soaked into the earth. The world faded away once more. Allen clutched his acing eye and chest desperately wishing to see the damp green foliage of the arena's jungle again instead he saw a baby that looked like a deformed angel with an oversized belly and an odd halo over his head.

The level four Akuma's soul was so twisted and gruesome yet at the same time so pitiful and sad Allen had to resist the urge of vomit. Within the next couple seconds the Black Order, Allen's home, was obliterated and half of the floor and exorcist cast into a burning abyss.  _This isn't real, Gerneral Tiedoll protected everyone. Lenalee, Cross, and I took down the Level four. This is all in the past._

He chanted to himself and to his relief the memory faded away. When he opened his eyes for a fourth time Allen couldn't remember ever being in his current situation. Everything was dark as far as the eye could see but he could feel the gentle lapping of something warm and wet against Allen's feet.

He looked down and even in the darkness a deep crimson reflected off non-existent light.

Allen was standing in blood.

Then a dark mass disturbed the sea of red. Allen inched towards it cautiously already dreading to see what it was. The mass was a body. The body of Lenalee Lee. But she wasn't the only one. Lavi, Bookman, Kanda, Krory, and Miranda appeared surrounding him. Despite the sea of blood Allen could still make out the stab wounds on each of their bodies adding to blood already rising around him. More bodies appeared. Komui, Bak, Johnny, even Cross and the other Generals started appearing.

"Stop it!" Allen yelled in anger and fear to no one in particular. To his immense surprise someone answered back.

"Why don't you stop?" A familiar voice called. "You did this after all." He spun to face… himself? An exact replica of Allen Walker stood before him Innocence active and claws dripping blood. This Allen was different thought. His skin was an ashen gray and the signature red scar was gone.

"Who are you?" Allen asked angrily.

"I am you." He answered simply.

"No you're not." Allen answered back crossly. "You did this!" He said gesturing to his friends lying in bloody heaps.

"No I didn't." The other gray skinned Allen answered with a playful smile. "Look." He said gesturing to Allen's arm. He looked down at his left arm.

To his horror his Innocence was activated and blood dripped down his claws. Human blood. The blood of his comrades. The once still body of Lenalee suddenly lifted her gruesome head. Her once beautiful violet eyes were dull and blank.

"Why Allen? I thought we were your friends." She asked. Her voice was so sad, desperate, betrayed that Allen felt his heart twist despite knowing it was fake.

"And you said I was cold and distant. You're worse then a Bookman. You pretend to care and in the end you killed us all anyway. I thought we were your family." Allen spun facing the pale dead face of Lavi. His chest was soaked through with blood and a dark whole replaced the spot in his chest where his heat should have been. Sensing something behinds him Allen spun once again to see the stoic face of Kanda. His face showed no emotion but his eyes were full of cold fire.

"Traitor!" He spat. The other still figures of his friends started to rise. All drenched in blood sporting the same pale desparate face.

"why?"

"We believed in you."

"How could you do this?"

The same phrase echoed in the air until it became an unbearable pressure. The pale exorcist grabbed his head and shut his eyes hoping the voices would go away. They didn't. The echoed voices of betrayal reverberated in the blood mist.

"No." He whispered but this time his denial was weak and a note of doubt had fluttered in.

"Yes." The other figure said gleefully. "You knew this was going to happen sooner or later. This is your destiny you can't change it. I will awaken and you will kill every last member of your precious family." Allen's head snapped up his body trembling.

"You… you're…" He smiled at Allen.

"I am the 14th." He whispered. The gray skinned replica of himself lunged claws outstretched. Five talons pierced his abdomen. Before the darkness consumed him he saw the 14th's appearance change. His white haired turned dark and curly, the signature stigmatas of the Noah apearing on his forehead, and his eyes turning to molten gold.

* * *

When the screaming stopped Katniss didn't let her tired arms fall from their post of clutching her ears. Neither did she relax her rigid body instead allowed Peeta to gently hold her and whispered comforting phrases in her ear. She could feel him move her out of the edge of the jungle and the damp ground was replaced with soft sand. As her muscles slowly relaxed fits of shaking racked her body.

"Prim." She croaked. "She's dead. Mom, Prim, Gales their all dead. I saw things." She muttered recalling the images that had flashed through her mind. Rue dying, Cato's body being mauled by Mutts, and Peeta wounded and dying in a cave.

"No they're not." Peeta reassure her firmly. "Those were Jabberjays Katniss."

"They had to record the voice from somewhere." She cried desperately.

"They can't kill your family Katniss. Everyone in the Capitol adores your sister and remember what happens when there are only half the tributes left? There's not that many of us now and you know we're gonna make it."

"They interview our families?" Katniss answered but her tone sounded as though she was asking a question.

"They're alive Katniss." He said softly holding her close and enveloping her in his warmth. She looked over at Finnick who was being patted on the back by Mags. His eyes were wide as dinner plates and he was clutching at Peeta's words like a drowning person to a lifeboat.

"Is it possible?" He asked Beetee. the inventor nodded.

"It's simple really, any child could manipulate a voice recording back at home." His words seemed to ease Katniss's mind as she felt her heart slowing down and her shaking body slowly steady.

"Oh course Peeta right." Johanna said in an annoyed, exasperated voice. "If they killed your sister then the whole country would probably rebel." She looked up at the sky and her voice rose to an angry shout. "Wouldn't want that now would we? Huh? The  _whole_  country in an uprising!" She shouted. Her words sent Katniss's jaw to the floor. No one ever defied the Capitol so directly. The words rebellion or uprising were taboo and weren't every uttered by a single soul. Nobody. Ever.

"What're you staring at?" She growled menacingly. "I think you have a bigger problem." She jerked a thumb at something still lying on the forest floor.

"Allen!" Katniss mentally slapped herself. How could she have forgotten him so easily? Timcanpy was already cuddling next to his master gently nudging Allen in hopes of waking him up. Getting unsteadily to her feet she stumbled over to the teen who was still shaking like a leaf, curled up on the forest floor. His breathing was labored and came in quick shallow gasps. He clutched at the left side of his face and abdomen as if he was in pain.

"Allen it's over." She tried to shake him but his eyes remained shut. It was unnerving to see Allen like this. He had always remained cheerful and calm even when they were fighting for their lives. He was a constant pillar of strengh. Whatever the revolting mist had done to him it had brought the optimistic and firm Exorcist crashing to the ground.

There hadn't been any screaming that Allen had reacted to but… Katniss's thoughts trailed away to the mist that forced the vivid images from the first Hunger Games into her mind. But those images weren't very powerful at least not when compared to the agonized screams of her family as they were tortured.  _No, sounded like they were tortured, Prim is fine._  She corrected herself firmly. Suddenly Katniss's attention was drawn back to Allen.

Perhaps the arena had done more damage on her mind then she thought because it looked like Allen's skin was turning grey. Not the pale, blood loss kind of grey but actually turning a dark shade of grey like the ash in a fireplace.

"What's wrong with him?" She cried out.

"I don't know!" Was Peeta's startled answer. Beetee, Finnick, and Mags joined them. Finnick helped Peeta drag Allen onto the beach, Katniss was sure that he was just as eager as her to get out of the horrible forest where eerie screams had ripped through only a few minutes before. The group gathered around the silver haired exorcist trying without success to wake him. Suddenly Allen convulsed on the floor as if he had been stabbed then his eyes fluttered open.

For a split second Katniss thought that his eyes had looked  _gold?_  But she dismissed it as her imagination as silvery eyes found hers and a look of confusion followed by realization flash across them.

"How long?" He asked sitting up and rubbing his left eye as if it was still hurting him.

"The hour is over and you were still out for about 10 minutes after we got out." Katniss filled him in. Allen shook his head. Katniss was still worried, the boy's breathing was still ragged and he looked unnerved.

"Are you ok?" Peeta asked. Allen smiled.

"Yeah just…" He trailed away. "I'm fine."

"You're skin turned gray." Beetee said as if it was an interesting malfunction in a machine. Allen's eyes widened, not in surprise, but horror. Katniss wanted to press him for answers but he got up abruptly and dusted off non-existent dirt from his clothes.

"How are you two?" He asked diverting everyone's attention back to Finnick and herself. Katniss scowled not wanting to let him get away with changing the subject but Johanna interrupted.

"Well I'm going to get something to drink." She announced picking up some shells and headed for the jungle. Katniss wanted to stop her but the rational part of her brain told her that the birds were gone. Johanna vanished into the sea of green. Finnick soaked in the salty water cleaning up his sweat drenched body. Allen followed, frowning at himself as he pondered something.

Katniss knew she was probably filthy but she leaned against Peeta not wanting to break contact with him quite yet. Mags spashed into the water and said something Katniss couldn't make out to Finnick. Her presence seemed to calm the shaken tribute and he swam with more ease as Mags waded happily after him.

"Who did they use against him." Beetee asked. He had seated himself next to Katniss.

"Someone named Annie I think. At least that's what he shouted."

"Annie Cresta?"

"I guess." Katniss had no idea who Annie was.

"That's the girl Mags volunteered for. She went crazy after her Hunger Games." Beetee filled in. Katniss realized that of all the rich gorgeous ladies lined up in the Captiol for Finnick he was in love with an insane girl back in District 4. There was something cruelly ironic about that and for some odd reason made Finnick seem more human, more real to her. Johanna returned with water and they sat in a circle to talk.

A cannon sounded around the six a clock area and a hovecraft appeared to retrieve the body of a tribute who looked as if it was ripped apart by some kind of wild animal.

"So other than our group who else is still out there?" Finnick started.

"Well the career pack are still around. Brutus, Enobaria, and Cashmere." Johanna said with a pointed look at Allen. The teen however looked too tired to argue with her.

"Chaff. Also the tribute that just died" Peeta motioned to the section of forest where the hovercraft has appeared to retrieve the body, "was probably one of the tributes from nine so one more tribute from that district to go."

"Seeder I think." Allen added. "She ran away from the Cornucopia and she hadn't shown up in the sky yet." He said. Katniss nodded.

"The women from 5, the other morphling, and the two tributes from District 10 are dead." Katniss said counting on her fingers. "I saw them in the sky when I was doing my watch and Allen you're right Seeder isn't dead."

"Don't scowl." Allen said before Johanna even got to move her facial muscles. At first she looked slightly surprised then smirked at Allen.

"You might not be dead weight after all." She cooed. He glared at her but some of the fire was missing from his eyes. Katniss was still worried about whatever had affected him so badly in the four a clock square.

"Gee thanks."

"Don't get me wrong you're still pretty useless." Allen just snorted and turned his attention to Timcanpy gently stroking the golem's head.

"Ok so we only have to deal with Seeder, Chaff, a tribute from nine and the career pack." Peeta summarized. "That means that there are only 13 of us left."

"Sorry still not going to let you _deal_  with anyone as long as I'm around."

"Oh really? You look like a soft breeze could blow you over right now." Johanna growled at Allen.

"Want to test that theory?" He asked, standing up and releasing Tim. Katniss couldn't help but notice Allen seemed more aggressive then usual. Before they could go at each other again a parachute floated down. Finnick opened it to reveal square shaped rolls that looked like they were from Beetee's district.

"How many?" Katniss asked.

"24." Finnick answered.

"There's seven of us how are we going to divide that up?"

"We can each take three and if there are still any of us left tomorrow then that person or persons can divvy the rest." Johanna said. Katniss found this rather amusing for no real reason other than it was true. Who knew which one of them would still be standing by tomorrow.

"That's fine but I'm gonna go into the forest to get some nuts or else I'm going to starve to death before Johanna gets the chance to gut me." Allen said standing and started to head away. Katniss couldn't help but notice that he avoided the Jabberjay part of the forest instead heading into the three a clock section where the monkeys were. After a full meal of nuts and rolls they waited for the wave to pass in the ten to eleven section before moving their camp to that section of the beach.

Katniss was looking forward to the 12 hours of peace.

She would have to enjoy them while she could because she knew that the Games weren't over and there were still 13 tributes alive and standing but there could only be one victor.


	15. Chapter 15

Katniss sat on the beach enjoying the soft lapping of the waves against the shore. It was a rare moment of peace and beauty. The moonlit water glittered like a thousand tiny diamond giving the water a surreal quality. Despite numerous protests Katniss had insisted on taking first watch with Peeta. She didn't want to see what her psyche might concoct if she left it alone with the memories of her sister's screams.

Mags, Beetee, and Johanna crashed easily but Allen and Finnick fell into a restless sleep. She kept seeing them mutter and shift out of the corner of her eyes. The warm caress of a hand against her own snapped Katniss's attention back to the present.

"Katniss." Peeta scooted closer to her. She leaned her head against him and let herself enjoy the feeling of his fingers trailing through her hair.

"We need to talk." He finally said interrupting the faint chirping of birds and insects. Katniss groaned inwardly. She knew that Peeta would bring up the inevitable subject eventually but she was hoping they wouldn't get the chance.

"You know what's happening." Peeta said it as statement not a question and Katniss wasn't going to insult Peeta's intelligence by trying to fool him into thinking she didn't know what he was talking about.

"I think you should know that I also made a deal with Haymitch and I know you definitely made a deal with him too. So," He paused seemingly trying to mull over his words. "He's lying to one of us." Katniss couldn't help but sigh. She straightened and looked at the earnest face of her… lover? Friend? Fellow tribute? No! She thought firmly. She still wasn't a hundred percent sure what Peeta was to her exactly except that he was someone she needed.

Someone she had to protect and make sure stayed alive. Both of them had struck a deal. A promise was made to each of them but only one was real.

"Why now?" Katniss questioned. Peeta looked resigned.

"Because you're forgetting something important Katniss. You have to live." He said it as if it was an irrefutable fact. "If you die there's nothing for me, you mean the world to me Katniss." He pleaded. "If I died I know it might be hard but you have family, people who are waiting for you to come back." Peeta fingered the golden locket around his neck. Katniss had almost forgotten about it. The beautifully carved Mockingjay glinted in the moonlight.

Peeta pried the locket open revealing two pictures. One of her mother and Prim, the other a smiling Gale. The air seemed to hitch in Katniss's throat. This was Peeta's trump card and he used it at the right time. Of all the things he could have done this was the bomb that broke her.

"Your family need you." Prim's vibrant laughing face captivated her. The face that was still bright and filled with hope undeterred by the cruelty of the world. Katniss forced her gaze back to Peeta. There seemed to be so many things she needed to tell him but even at this most intimate moment she knew they were being broadcasted. Thousands of eager Captiol faces would be staring at the screen clinging at every syllable that came out of their favorite lover's mouth.

"No one needs me back home. They'll mourn, it will be harder on my family without me helping out but they'll move on. Haymitch can drink through just about anything." Katniss let out a reluctant laugh but she noticed that Peeta didn't mention one person who would be broken beyond repair if he died. She noticed that he didn't mention the baby letting her know that everything he said now wasn't for the cameras. He was being dead honest.

" _I_  need you." She whispered.

"Katniss," Peeta seemed to be about to go on a rant but Katniss silenced him with a passionate kiss. There was something different about this kiss Katniss noticed. She had kissed Peeta hundreds of times before for the cameras but this time she felt an odd burning sensation in her chest. It wasn't unpleasant though in fact it was quite enjoyable. Soon Peeta pressed his lips back to hers and she wrapped her arms around him leaning into his body.

She felt the warm feeling spread to the rest of her body but a small trickle of blood fell from her head wound and Peeta lay her down in the sand. The warm glow in her stomach seemed to fade away and she was left somewhat disappointed. Silence reigned after that. Suddenly a loud lightning strike shook Finnick and Allen out of their restless sleep.

"Wha…" Finnick's fingered dug into the sand as he seemed to shake off the remnants of a nightmare. Allen wasn't much better. His breaths came in shallow gasp and he seemed to shake slightly before gaining his composure again.

"Hey why don't you let us take over?" Allen offered looking at Finnick. Katniss would have protested that they barely watched for an hour but something told her that this was more for their sake then hers.

"Sure, some on Peeta." She grabbed his arm and exchanged spots with Allen and Finnick. For an alarming moment Allen's eyes seemed to flash gold. Timcanpy, who had been dislodged from Allen's hair when the teen woke, snuggled closer to Katniss. She didn't mind though. Peeta reached over and lay a hand on her abdomen.

"You're going to be a great mother." He said smiling at her. She knew that their time out was over and it was back to the games.

* * *

"Thank." Allen was startled to hear Finnick's voice. He gazed at the other tribute. Finnick's normally handsome, regal figure was marred with exhaustion, but Allen knew he couldn't rest. He felt disturbed by his dreams. The shadow of the 14th was appearing in them more and more often. Soft whispers echoed around him reminding him of his fate of destroying his loved ones. He shook his head trying to clear it of the disturbing thoughts that were swimming in his head.

"No problem." Allen replied. They both let a comfortable silenced set in until the sun was high into the sky and their fellows started to stir. Surprisingly Mags was the first to get up and join them in the sand. Johanna, Peeta, and Katniss followed after a few minutes. Beetee was the last one to join them. He was fingering the cylinder of golden wire and he seemed to be deep in thought. Allen looked up as a silver parachute fell revealing more rolls for them to divide between them.

Katniss went into the water with Peeta trying to teach him how to swim. Allen looked on with amusement recalling his own experience of learning how to swim. He didn't have the luxury of a teacher. Instead he had taught himself pretty quickly after being thrown off a boat after his master pissed of some rather important people. Katniss seemed to be talking to Peeta about something with a serious expression on her face. Allen wondered what they could be discussing when Beetee called out.

"I have an idea come over here guys!" He called. Finnick, Johanna, and Mags joined them while Katniss and Peeta took a leisurely swim towards them. Soon all seven of them were gathered around Beetee waiting for his revelation.

"I've been working on how to get rid of Brutus, Enobaria, and Cashmere." Beetee started. A sinking feeling started dragging Allen's stomach down. He knew this moment was coming but he had been caught up in all the horrors of the games to really think about that fact that their group would eventually have to try to kill another tribute and he would need to figure out what to do with his no-one-dies-if-he-could-stop-it policy.

"You have something?" Finnick pushed. Beetee nodded.

"I noticed that the sand stays damp on the beach hours after the ten a clock wave comes in. You know what comes son after that right?"

"The lighting." Allen answered automatically.

"Right! And where do you think the career pack is right now?" He asked. Allen couldn't help getting the impression that Beetee was just a school teacher helping his students though a particularly difficult problem.

"We're on the beach which is the safest place to be and the careers are smart enough to figure out the jungle is completely rigged at this point. That means they are around the edges of the beach. Close enough to see us but not for us to notice and attack them." Katniss reasoned.

"Yes." Beetee applauded.

"This wire I have," He paused pulling out a small stretch of the wire. Allen looked at it closely. It seemed so delicate he wondered what it could possibly do. It definitely wasn't for choking another person.

"It can conduct electricity." Allen's grip on Timcanpy hardened as he realized where Beetee was going with this plan. The golem squirmed in discomfort and bit its master's thumb.

"Sorry Tim." Allen apologized quickly turning back to the group.

"If we can rig it from the tree to the beach then anyone who is in contact with the beach will be fried. The salt water will be the perfect for conducting the electricity. The rest of the group seemed to realize what Beetee's plan was and gasped in appreciation.

"But are you sure the careers will come onto the beach?" Allen asked, trying his best to poke holes in Beetee's plan.

"It's the safest place in the arena and the only thing stopping them is us. Once we leave they are sure to camp here." He said confidently. Mags nodded in agreement.

"But," Allen tried to protest further but Beetee plowed on.

"The sea food probably will be gone from the shock so we should make the most of that food scours while it's still here. I'm assuming we're going to be fine for food even in the jungle right?" His question was directed towards Katniss. She nodded.

"We can hunt those tree rats and fry nuts. Although with Allen's appetite we might have to spend the rest of the game getting enough nuts just to feed him."

"Hey!" He protested. Although what she said was true. He could already feel the hunger clawing at his innards.

"If we can set the trap up we should have the career's trapped, but whether or not to try this must be a decision we all make together." Beetee said eyeing each person his eyes coming to rest on Allen. He shifted uncomfortably. Allen knew he couldn't go along with this. He had promised not to kill. Helping with the operation or even just letting it happen without helping would mount up to the same. Murder.

"You know what I said at the beginning." Before Allen could finished Johanna hefted her ax and stood up.

"No don't." Katniss said starting to rise but Johanna stopped her.

"I think we all knew it would come down to this. Albino won't let us do this so it's all of us against him. We can end it here." Despite her confident call Allen could see apprehension in her figure. He raised both his hands in a placating gesture.

"I'm sorry. I really am." He started. "I won't fight you but know that I won't help you with this insane plan wither." Johanna dropped her ax in shock. Then she sneered.

"What? Your noble morals finally flew out the window when it's  _your_  life that's on the line heh?" She challenged. Allen raised an eyebrow meeting her gaze evenly.

"I can't stop all six of you." He knew it was a blatant lie. "But proceed knowing that I will do nothing to help with this operation, good enough?" Johanna smirked.

"Good enough for me everyone else?" Finnick nodded agreeing. Katniss looked at Peeta sharing a look Allen was sure held a lot more meaning then what it appeared to be.

"Yeah let's try." She said speaking for both of them." Mags nodded her consent.

"We're a go then." Beetee said. They all got up, ready to head towards the tree. Beetee wanted time to examine the Lighting Tree and figure out the trap so that it would ready to go by midnight. While everyone was busy Allen turned around and held Tim close to his face.

"Did you record all that?" He asked the golem. Tim nodded in confirmation. "Good fine the career pack and warn them ok? Be careful though I'll cover for you." He said. The golem gave him one last affectionate nudge before flying away unnoticed by the others in their alliance.

* * *

Snow was no longer sitting back in his carved wooden chair enjoying the show.

No.

He was pacing furiously around his office. The damned boy was like cockroach. He just wouldn't die. Physical attacks, metal attacks, none of them seemed to affect Allen Walker for long. Although, Snow mused, the fog was a nice touch, and definitely yielded interesting results. But the time of feeble traps and leaving the dirty work to the Gamemakers was over.

Even as Snow paced the nuisance of a group were concocting a plan to take out their main competitors.

The odds were starting to lean in their favor. And the odds could  _never_  be in their favor.

It was time to raise the stakes.

Snow hated involving variables that were outside of his control but at this point he was choosing the lesser of two evils as the saying goes. He stomped out of his office and entered his private elevator. He swiped his keycard and allowed the scanners to run over his entire body clearing him to enter the secret vault deep beneath the Capitol building. Snow stepped out of the elevator and was greeted by surprised yelps from the two well-armed guards.

The vault was built before the revolution and contained secrets even Snow himself hadn't unraveled.

"Sir!" The guards saluted. Snow approached the double doors which were pushed open for him by the guards. He walked deep into the vault all the way into the depths of its mysteries. He approached a large metal container heavily covered in dust.

"Mr. President sir." One of the guards was uneasy. "No one is supposed to open that. We were given specific instructions."

"And who's instructions do you think those were from?" Snow snapped.

"The previous President." The guard mumbled.

"But the instructions were clear. No one not even the President of Panem is supposed to open that box." Snow cursed inwardly at the level of importance the last president had set by this box. The only thing he knew form his predecessor was that it contained something that was incredibly destructive.

 _Do not dabble in matters you have no control over._  Those were the words of the last president.  _It has more destructive power then you can imagine. It must never leave that box do you understand? This is of the utmost importance._

Yet nothing was beyond the grasp of Snow. At least not yet. The flames of rebellion were stirring and he would put it out by destroying the group that kept it alive.

"Tell me how is your family? Enjoying the Games at home?" Snow asked. The guard paled.

"Yes sir."

"And your wife she admires your job as my elite guard?" He pushed further.

"Yes sir." The guards voice was faltering now. He gulped nervously then without a word he turned and marched out of the room leaving Snow alone with the metal box. He pressed the code into a panel next to the box and watched in satisfaction as the slowly peeled open to reveal an oval stone rather like an egg.

It was large enough for a child to rest comfortably curled up in it.

The stone was perfectly smooth and milky white except for the top which was marred by a large black pentagram.


	16. Chapter 16

Katniss trudged through the hot sweltering jungle keeping close to Peeta. They had both agreed: try Beetee's plan, hopefully obliterate the career pack, then they would split and end the alliance.

She could see their delicate group falling apart already like the edges of cloth slowly fraying. Johanna hadn't stopped bickering with Allen since they left the beach and Finnick held Mags protectively close. These signs along with the general tension in the air told Katniss she was right in deciding to end the alliance. She felt relieved when they finally made it to the lightning tree if only to distract Allen and Johanna from their constant bickering.

"Will the wire be able to hold all the electricity Beetee?" Peetas asked as the inventor unwound the golden thread no thicker then sewing string.

"Hmm?" Beetee hummed as he looked contemplatively between the tree and his precious wire. "Oh yes! I designed this myself you see. It will act like a fuse no problem." He said confidently then went back to running his fingers up and down the unnaturally smooth trunk of the artificial tree. Knowing next to nothing about electricity Katniss joined the rest of the group hovering by to protect Beetee even though Katniss doubted anyone would be foolish enough to take on a group of seven, at least without some kind of ambush.

Something caught the corner of her eye. Allen had frozen in the middle of another completely pointless and circular argument with Johanna to clutch his head.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Something had been off with the white haired teen ever since the Jabberjay section of the forest. He seemed to realize his action and quickly lowered his hand.

"Nothing." He said dismissively but Katniss didn't buy it. She was about to question him further but the sound of insects stopped her. At first she thought it was just the regular chirping of the jungle but forest critters had never set her blood tingling like this. There was a menacing clicking that felt uniform as if it belonged to a large group of the same creepy crawly. The noise grew until it was a deafening roar and everyone had to cover their ears to block out the horrible noise that filled the air.

Even with her hands over her ears and the insect's buzz in the air Katniss could still make out the horrible pain filled scream the tore through the air. A canon sounded announcing a tributes death. Some part of Katniss, the cruel realistic part of her that she sometimes hated, thought _one more down only twelve left_. She didn't know how much long the buzz filled the air but eventually the noise subsided and she lowered her hand.

"What was that?" Allen asked in a mix of horror and sadness as he gazed into the eleven a clock section of the jungle where the noise came from.

"Killer insects I guess. Now we know what happens at eleven and we know we don't want to be part of that." Everyone nodded grimly.

"Come on if it's eleven then we don't have much time before lighting will strike this tree and I don't want to be around when that happens either." Finnick said. The group trudged silently back to the beach. As evening approached Finnick and Allen dived for the last of the seafood before they would all be fried tonight. The alliance settled into a comfortable silence and Katniss lay down next to Peeta comforted by his warmth despite the heat. This was likely the last peaceful night she would get with him, ever.

The national anthem began playing and the last tribute of nine appeared in the sky. It was just their group, the careers, Chaff, and Seeder. Katniss turned to see Allen's reaction at the most recent death but to her surprise he didn't look sad or angry. The exorcist's face was scrunched up in concentration. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking about. A small flash of fear seemed to flitter across his features but it disappeared as abruptly as Katniss had seen it.

"It's pretty isn't it?" Peeta asked. She wasn't sure what he was talking about at first but then she looked up and saw the pale moon glowing a brilliant silver the orb itself as round as a dinner plate.

"Yeah" She answered quietly. Looking at the glowing moon Katniss quietly thought to herself.  _It will be decided tonight. The career pack will die, the alliance will crumble, and I will make sure that Peeta stands Victor._

* * *

Allen growled under his breath as he found himself once again wading through a damp sea of leaves and bushes. They were about to set up the wire for the final preparation against the career pack. He sincerely hoped that Timcanpy had managed to find the other alliance and that they three violent adults didn't damage his precious golem.

Of course any damage they do would be repaired as Timcanpy healed himself but it might ruin Tim's chance of showing him the recording that would hopefully save the career pack's life. He felt a small twinge of guilt ruining his friends carefully planned but he knew that there was no way he was going to let them kill the other three tributes either. Everyone was uncharacteristically quiet, even Johanna had stopped her annoying quips leaving an eerie silence in the night.

Allen rubbed his eyes tiredly trying to get rid of the pressure that felt like it had been building there forever. His headache was getting worse too. He dreaded thinking about it. No matter what he wouldn't let the 14th take over. That was the only thing he was sure about right then. In front of him Katniss's gaze swept across the jungle and their group resting her gaze on the frowning exorcist.

"Allen." She whispered. He hummed a response. "Where's Tim?" He froze. He couldn't let them know where Tim had flown off to. Not only would that ruin his own plan but the alliance would probably turn on him and he didn't want to be the proverbial last straw that broke their truce.

"Not sure." That much was true. "He sometimes just goes off on his own but don't worry, Tim always finds his way back to me." He tried to smile reassuringly but the effect might have been ruined by his grimace of pain as a sharp knife seemed to drive itself into his skull. She frowned.

"What's wrong?" She asked again.

"Who cares? Keep it down you two or else the other's might figure out where we are and ambush us." Johanna snapped.

"You're being louder then both of us combined." He hissed back. Katniss give an exasperated sigh and turn back to Peeta. At least she wasn't questioning him anymore. After what seemed like a million years with his pounding headache they finally arrived at the lightning tree. After Beetee wound the wire around the tree in neat intricate patterns he turned to the rest of the group.

"Ok." Peeta started. "This is the plan. Johanna you and Katniss will run the wire down to the beach after I secure it around the tree. Make sure that you dump the coil into the water and get as far away from the beach as possible, I have no way to gauge the distance of the shock." Johanna nodded cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

"I want to go with them as a guard." Peeta said firmly. Allen could see his desperation to protect Katniss. Beetee shook his head.

"Sorry but you would only slow them down. I need you to stay here and guard with Finnick."

"I can go." Allen volunteered himself." Johanna made a noise of protest but Allen spoke over her. "I'm not needed here, you already have two guards. Peeta can protect you and Finnick can watch Mags. Plus I'll be able to keep up with the girls." He said calmly gesturing to Peeta's leg. Even in the moonlight he could see Peeta blushing.

"Sounds good." Beetee said just as a crash that resounded throughout the arena signaled that the 10 a clock wave had just crashed onto the beach. "Hurry if you three are going to make it back safely and meet us in the one or two a clock section at midnight you'll have to leave now.

Just as Allen turned to follow the two female tributes down to the beach with golden wire in hand a blinding flash of light illuminated them forcing Allen's eyes shut.

 _Impossible!_  Allen thought frantically.  _The wave just hit that means we still have over an hour how can the lightning strike now?_

But when the light died down Allen noticed that they weren't dead.

"Is everyone alright?" He called, trying to force his eyes open now that the supernova like light had vanished. Scanning his surrounding nothing seemed amiss. Katniss and Johanna were blinking rapidly trying to clear their eyes, so was Beetee, Peeta, Finnick, and Mags. The golden spool of thread was still gripped firmly in Katniss's hand. But something was definaelty wrong.

Allen could feel it in his bones.

The hairs on his arm rose, his left arm prickled in anticipation to the unknown threat. Then he looked up. Nestled in the branches of the giant tree that had just been bathed in light was a large egg. An egg that Allen had seen before.

About 4 feet tall, milky white marred by a jet black pentagram on the top. A small crack appeared on the top of the egg extending like spider webs across the smooth surface of the horrible thing. A small breath escaped Allen.

"We're doomed."

* * *

The Millenium Earl froze, his needle and yarn falling silently to the floor. The black cat with a white diamond on her forehead looked up at her master's sudden move.

"What is it Millenie?" Road's usually sing song voice replaced by a sharp questioning tone. She had felt it too, something had happened, but she wasn't sure what it meant.

"Ohh!" The Earl exclaimed. "My Akuma have found him." He sang joyfully, turning his gaze to Road who had been sitting quietly watching the Earl with unnerving golden eyes. "Gather the rest of our family. We've found Allen Walker."

* * *

Komui picked up the phone that rang with a certain urgency. A strange feeling of apprehension came across the chief. No, he was being stupid, he chided himself it was nothing but a phone call.

Normal. Business.

He picked up the receiver just as his precious little sister Lenalee walked in with a tray of smoking coffee. He listened intently to the other party on the phone letting a small smile creep onto his face as Lenalee set down the coffee. Komui lowered the phone back to its stand gently picking up the coffee. He took one long calming sip and looked up at the violet eyes of his sister muttering so softly only Lenalee could hear.

"We found him."


	17. Chapter 17

Katniss gazed in horrified fascination as the mysterious oval continued to crack until it shattered completely. Where the egg once stood was a grotesque imitation of a human child.  Skin milky white blemished by an inky pentagram printed on a bloated stomach. The mockery of a halo hovered above the creature's head giving off a glow that stole light away from it's surroundings. The child laughed, the innocent sound as twisted as the rest of its appearance.  The ghastly sound only filling the air with malice and blood lust.

When Katniss turned to look at her comrades she noticed something that chilled her perhaps even more then the deformed child. Allen's face was drained of all color and there was an almost imperceptible tremble in his hand. For the first time since the bloodbath of the Hunger Game started there was an unfamiliar emotion glittering in her companion. Fear. Allen was afraid. Over his left eye spun two cogwheels,  whirring madly over his eye that turned completely black with red irises.

Any shock from his eye's transformation was drowned by the surety that she should have reason to fear for her life. Whatever the thing before them was, Allen recognized it and it scared him. It scared her too. The child turned its empty gaze to their group and smiled playfully.

"Exorcist!" The sadistic joy made Katniss recoil. "Let's play."

* * *

Allen froze. Not once in his wildest dreams did he imagine that he would be facing an Akuma in this world. There was no Millennium Earl here so how could his servants exist? It didn't make sense, but that wasn't his biggest worry then. Last time he had encountered a Level 4 it had taken Lenalee's advanced Crystal Innocence, his Master who was a General, and himself just to beat it. How was he supposed to kill the Akuma alone while protecting his friends?

He could feel his left eye activate and as the tortured soul became visible above the Akuma. It took all his will to stop his stomach from rebelling and not to avert his eyes. The grotesque soul was bent beyond recognition. It was less than human, it was less than a soul.

The Akuma turned and stared right at him sending shivers down his back.

"Exorcist! Let's play." It's eyes narrowed to eager slits. 

Several things happened the same time. The protective warmth of Crown Clown draped itself around its master. Katniss nocked an arrow aiming at the Akuma's head. The tree lines beside their group shook and burst forth Brutus, Enobaria, and Cashmere. The three careers charged with reckless abandon, trying to end their competition while they were distracted. But between the three careers and their prey was something beyond their comprehension. By the time Allen shouted a warning it was far too late.

"NO!" He charged after the Akuma who had turned to face the career pack, a sickening grin on its face, its arm morphing into a machine gun. Before Allen could fling his cloak over the three tributes the Akuma sent a volley of poisonous projectiles at them. The careers spun their weapons with confidence, ready to deflect the bullets coming at them.

The bullets ripped apart the steel swords and spears like butter and through their wielder's chests. Dark droplets sprayed the forest floor glowing red in the reflected moonlight. The figures fell, triumphant grins lingering on their face.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The cannons sounded. Cursing Allen turned to his friends.

"GO!" He cried at them. None of them moved. Even Johanna stayed where she was. Allen thought it was out of shock at first but then Katniss spoke.

"We're not gonna leave you here to die." She said.

"humf! Speak for yourself I just want to kill that thing now so it doesn't hunt me down later." Johanna said hefting her ax. Under any other circumstances he would have appreciated the sentiment, but now he could only shake his head.

"Look," He started but had to whip his cloak around in time to block another wave of bullets. "It's not that I don't appreciate the offer but you can't help. To be blunt, if you stayed you would only get in the way." Johanna made an indignant choking noise.

"Normal weapons can't hurt Akuma remember? And if just one of those bullets touch you, no matter how small the wound, the poison will spread to the rest of your body and you'll crumble away." He said between gritted teeth as he felt the impact of the bullets against his back.

"But you'll die." Peeta stated it like a fact. 

"Well that's a bit grim." Allen smiled lightly. "Don't worry." He said standing and lifting his cloak, grabbing his left wrist. As he pulled his entire left arm glowed green, morphing into a broadsword. "Plus," Allen said cheerfully "I've already fought one of these before." Allen would have said almost anything to get them out of the way just then. Facing the Akuma he got ready to charge but a voice sounded behind him.

"No." A simple statement but enough to make Allen spin on his heel and look back at Katniss. He was lucky the Akuma didn't charge at him for he would have been too distracted to defend himself instead opting to fire another wave of bullets at him which he once again blocked with his cloak.

_What is with this trigger happy Akuma?_

"What?" He asked.

"I'm not leaving. Finnick can take Mags, and Peeta can take Beetee to safety while Johanna and I stay behind to help you. I know we can't fight it directly but we can distract it from a distance, maybe find you an opening for attack." She said. Allen expected Johanna to complain about how she wasn't going to put her life on the line so save some useless freak but she stayed silent much to the exorcist's surprise. Peeta started to protest noticing that Katniss had put him in the group that would get to safety on purpose.

"I'm not leaving you Katniss." He said firmly. Allen winced as the bullet's velocity increased.

"Whatever you are doing decide quickly because I'm about to become occupied." He growled through gritted teeth as he was pushed back. Katniss stared into Peeta's eyes. She wasn't going to back down no matter what.

"Leave. Now." She said, then in so soft a whisper that Allen almost missed it. "For me." Allen couldn't see Peeta's face since he was focused on keeping his cloak of Innocence up to protect himself and his friends but he could hear a reluctantly whispered acquiescence. 

"But you're coming back to me, understand Girl on Fire?" It was his turn to sound adamant.

"Of course." She said. Finnick, fast as lightning, swung Mags over his back and Peeta did the same with Beetee. The moment the rain of bullets ceased they darted out like lithe foxes and slipped into the jungle running as fast as they could away from the battle field.

"Take cover and distract the Akuma when you can." Allen ordered before leaping, sword in hand, toward the Akuma. It laughed as the exorcist approached. The Level 4 raised its head to the sky and let out a scream that drove a stake into his already pounding head. refusing to let his synchronization drop, he brought his blade down in a deadly arc. The Akuma dodged easily and struck out with its fist.

Allen blocked the blow with his blade swinging around to plant a kick in the Akuma's side but he felt a cold hand wrap around his ankle and braced himself as the Akuma threw him into the air. Tendrils of his Innocence shot out to support him. Without letting his feet touch the ground Allen launched himself back the Level 4 who waited patiently for the exorcist to come within range.

The machine gun appeared once again and started peppering Allen with bullets but he sliced through each projectile with practiced ease. He tried to use him momentum to drive his Blade of Exorcism through the Akuma's chest but it moved to the side at the last moment and brought its knee up to collide painfully with Allen's stomach. All the air was pushed out as a burning pain shot through his diaphragm.

The Akuma grinned. It held out its hand allowing a black sphere of raw energy to swirl into existence. Allen had no way to change his position as the Akuma released its ball of purple energy. The blast sent him flying, breaking several trees as he came to a crashing stop leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Hot blood trickled down his face. Pain radiated from his back and as he gasped for air his chest constricted and burned. Two or three very bruised ribs if not completely broken. Before Allen could even blink the black spots out of his eyes the Akuma appeared above him. He tried to bring his sword up to protect himself but his arms felt like lead. The Akuma positioned its right hand above his head making a gesture like someone flicking an ant away. The air hummed with power but before the Akuma could release the pent up energy an arrow caught the side of its head.

The projectile itself fell away harmlessly but the Akuma looked to its left where the arrow originated confused. Just as it turned another weapon came flying of nowhere. A large and very heavy ax that carried enough momentum to knock the Level 4 over when it collided with the back of its head. As the Level 4 careened sideways Allen brought his sword up against the Akuma's side. Not having enough time to completely block Allen's blow he managed to nick its side. The amused smile melted replaced by a demented scowl.

The Level 4 screams rang out once more. It tried to send send a blast of energy towards the two parts of the forest where Katniss and Johanna were undoubtedly hiding. Quick as a the wind Allen slammed the flat of his sword against the monster sending it sliding back a good twenty feet giving him the time to steady himself despite the burning in his chest that made breathing an arduous task.

The Akuma's smile returned.

"You're fun to play with Exorcist." Allen didn't bother wasting energy replying instead he ran forward swing his sword blocking the Akuma's attack and trying to get a few jabs in himself. Just as the previous Level 4 Akuma this one was also immensely strong and fast. It deflected Allen's blows with an almost lazy air. He could feel the burn in his chest increase until it became a stabbing pain.

"Is it over already?" The Akuma asked in a disappointed voice. _No_ , Allen thought fiercely. No matter what it cost he had to defeat this Akuma here and now or else it would massacre everyone, not just the tributes but probably the rest of Panem. Allen was the only Exorcist there to stop that from happening.

He forced himself to strike faster incorporating his knowledge of acrobatics and hand to hand combat along with his swordsmanship. He twisted, jabbed, blocked, and kicked combining moves he never used before and inventing new combinations hoping to catch the Akuma off-guard. One lucky shot was all he needed, just one lucky stab and he could end it.

A rock shifted, Allen's right leg gave out as his foot hold crumbled. He only faltered of less than a second but it was all the Level 4 needed. It allowed another glowing orb of energy to form in its hand, a triumphant smile tearing its grotesque face. At the last moment Allen swung his sword in front of him taking the brunt of the blow but he still couldn't help crying out when the wave of pain and heat hit.

Blown back several feet the white haired exorcist knew this was it. His legs shook as he forced them to bear his weight once more.

"Allen!" Katniss's voice seemed feint like it was coming to him from the other side of a tunnel _._  When the spots stopped dancing in his eyes the Akuma's face was inches from his own. He had to force himself not to flinch.

"It's over little exorcist." The Akuma brought both its palms filled with purple energy up to either side of Allen's head ready to deal the final blow. Suddenly the night sky shattered into a blindingly array of light. Both Allen and the Akuma looked up to see an odd shape like the lid of a coffin with smaller geometric shapes surrounding the main oddity. Allen's eye widened in recognition.

The doorway was black with a purple haze around it. The number fourteen appeared. It was the Earl's ark. Before Allen could even begin to fathom how the Earl had managed to open a doorway to this world all his brain could process was  _Well, now I'm doubly dead._ But there was something different about the door. The Noah that appeared from the Ark entrance weren't the well-rested and smartly dressed bunch with amused smiles Allen had been expecting. They looked annoyed and they all had their weapons drawn.

The Millennium Earl himself was present along with Road, Tyki, Sheryl, and Lulubell but who followed them made Allen's heart leap with joy.

It was Lavi, Kanda, Lenalee, Krory, and Miranda. They all fell to the arena floor now cleared of tall trees and underbrush from the Level 4's earlier blast. While the other exorcist reengaged with the Noah a giant hammer same out of nowhere and slammed right into the shocked Akuma's face sending it flying away.

Lavi Bookman Junior stood in front of Allen. Unabashed grin firmly affixed despite the blood dripping from his left hand. His red hair was in a unruly mess, unrestrained by his characteristic green bandana. Lavi looked at his friend, emerald eyes twinkling in relief and amusement.

"Yo Allen. You look terrible."


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah the last chapter. This story was such a blast to write and once again I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this little story of mine. Special thanks to Prince_Of_The_Night who has been so kind and supportive. 
> 
> Thank you soo very very much for everyone's precious time ^_^.

 

 

Katniss stared in horrified fascination as Allen and the monster exchange blows. She thought she knew the full extent of Allen's skill, now she realized she was sorely mistaken. He moved in a whirlwind of silver, slashing and kicking with the grace of an acrobat, each movement precise. But perhaps what was even more frightening was the fact that the monster showed no distress from the onslaught. It's sinister smiled fixed on the marble face as crooked hands swatted away each attack.

Allen was sent flying by the Akuma but caught himself and swung back towards his enemy at the speed of a bullet. That's when everything went wrong. The Akuma caught him with a harsh blow and sent him crashing through the woods with explosive force. When he came and the dust settled a small gasp slipped from her lips. The young boy who had crashed into her life, going from fragile to seemingly invisible was limp on the ground, not even a finger twitched to reassure her that he still breathed. The impact must have obliterated his spine.

To her disbelief Allen started to shift and made an attempt to rise but the Akuma was already on top of him. Shaking herself out of her shock Katniss sent an arrow flying. The projectile found it's mark, succeeding in distracting the monster. Not a second later a battle ax caught the monsters head and sent it careening sideways. She and Johanna had bought Allen enough time. It wasn't over yet. 

The angel and demon twirling in a deadly dance.

A blinding blast brought Allen to his knees once more and this time Katniss couldn't hope for another miracle. A hailstorm of a thousand arrows and axes wouldn't change their fate as a skeletal hand was lowered over her comrade's face. 

"Allen!" She cried in a desperate attempt to encourage him to rise. It was hopeless.

The sky burst apart in hues of purple and unfamiliar figures streamed through. A group with grey skin and black stigmatas on their forehead followed by an odd assortment of teenager. One of the strangers with wild red hair produced a giant hammer and knocked the Akuma away leaning down to smile at Allen. Even across the explosions and cries of battle now raging around Katniss she could hear

"Yo Allen. You look terrible."

* * *

Allen stared at the red haired exorcist standing in front of him.

"La..la…Lavi!?" Allen shouted in disbelief temporarily forgetting his pain and springing to his feet. "How are you here? How is the Earl here?" He stuttered. 

"Well you see," Lavi had to pause mid sentence to enlarge his hammer and block a furious torrent of purple energy from the enraged Akuma.

"Finders were sent out to every location we thought the Earl or Noah might be hiding to see if they could get any information. One of them called headquarters and said the Noah were gathering. Whether for an attack or not he wasn't sure but Komui got us all together and we checked out the Noah's HQ." Lavi continued nonchalantly.

"Turns out we have absolutely perfect timeing the Earl said he found where you were from a Akuma and opened a Ark door with Road to recreate what happened with you." Allen nodded in numbly. 

"And?" He pushed ignoring that the Akuma was practically self-destructing in anger at the fact that it was being ignored.

"And nothing! We attacked came through here saw you lying in a pathetic heap."

"I was not! That's completely unfair!" Allem protested but Lavi just laughed and shouted.

"Hiban!" slamming his hammer down on the ground with the glowing red kanji for fire at its center. A fiery red serpent erupted and consumed the Akuma. Both exorcists knew it wouldn't do any damage but it bought them time. "So what's the game plan?"

"We have to take care of the Level 4, it has the potential to kill more people then maybe even the Earl." Allen said standing back to back with Lavi.

"Right." Lavi took a defensive stance and once again slammed his hammer down evoking both lightening and fire to combine into a destructive force of nature. The Akuma countered with its own blast to dark matter. Out of the corner of his eye Allen saw Katniss stumble out of the woods. Lavi had noticed too and raised his hammer.

"Wait." Allen said.

"Oh! Who's the cute girl?" Lavi asked noticing she wasn't an Akuma. Allen glared at Lavi and punched him on his head even though the red head was taller than him (something Allen found mildly annoying)

"Who's the redhead." Katniss asked. Allen groaned this really wasn't time for introductions.

"Lavi, Katniss. Katniss, Lavi." Allen said a quickly as possibly gesturing the parties in question.

"Nice to meet yo.." Lavi never got to finish. Both exorcists had to jump to avoid a torrent of bullets that soon turned the ground they were standing on into Swiss cheese.

"Hey idiots! Get over here!" An angry voice echoed over. Allen gritted his teeth. Only one person could possibly set his nerves on end like that.

"What Bakanda? Can't handle a couple Noah?" Allen called back jeeringly as he regained his balance after leaping out of the level 4's way. Indeed Kanda was fighting both Tyki and Road while Miranda had set up a safe Time-Out zone for the exorcists. Krory was flying around at blinding speeds keeping Sheryl occupied while the girls, Lenalee and Lulubell, turned the air around them into burst of blue and green light.

Kanda abandoned the Noah and walked over to Allen leveling Mugen at his throat.

"What did you say you little half pint midget?" A vein on Allen's forehead twitched.

"I said." Allen drew out his words like he was talking to a three year old. "Is useless Kanda so incompetent that he needs  _help_  to fight a couple Noah?"

"Ehh Shounen I think we're supposed to be fighting." Tyki interrupted voice amused yet unsure.

"SHUT UP!" Allen and Kanda yelled at him at the same time.

"Oh it's okay Tyki. They're just catching up!" Road laughed, sitting herself comfortably on Lero.

Allen slammed his forehead into Kanda's, not that anything would hurt that hard head of his.

"Albino!"

"Girly hair!"

"Arrogant shortstack!"

"Moronic giant!"

Allen was vaguely aware of explosions behind him and probably Lavi shouting at him but he didn't care. He would have conjured more insults and probably start including some lovely language he stored away from his circus days but a beam of dark matter exploded between them and blew Allen head over heels. Kanda didn't fare much better.

"Don't ignore me!" The Akuma screamed at them. the Akuma looked far more outraged then at any point when Allen was fighting it.

"Testy soul isn't it." Road commented coldly. Her golden eyes narrowed his distant. 

"They always ignored me. You think you're better than me don't you! Go away!" Before any of the Exorcists could react the Akuma slammed a pale fist into the ground producing a massive shock wave that blew Allen into the air and sent him crashing into a boulder that disintegrated upon impact.

His forgotten injuries came to him in a stunning wave of pain. A giant watery arm slammed down on top of him and he quickly rolled out of the way of Lulubell's transformed arm. Lanalee dropped onto Lulubell's watery arm with such force the rock beneath her shattered and gave way. Unfortunately the ferocious attack did nothing to harm the aquatic body of the Noah.

"Are you ok Allen?" She asked worry apparent in her voice. Her dark hair had grown to shoulder length and her violet eyes stared straight into Allen's own.

"I'm fine Lenalee." He lied getting unsteadily back to his feet. Chaos had rained down once more and to Allen's horror he hadn't seen Katniss since he was blasted apart from Lavi when he had introduced them. Cursing himself for his carelessness he scanned the battlefield.

The Millennium Earl was still floating in mid-air with his feral grin and pudgy coat. Kanda had reengaged Tyki and Lavi was fighting (well more like running actually) from the Akuma. Krory was still zipping across the clearing with Sheryl hot on his heels. While Lenalee was slowing pushing back Lulubell. To his relief Allen found what he was looking for. Miranda was shouting and waving at Katniss who stumbled into the protected dome of golden light where she seemed to be exchanging greeting Miranda. His reprieve didn't last long however.

Lavi came barreling towards him the Akuma firing bullets at his feet.

"Could use a bit of cover here Allen." Lavi yelled.

Without hesitation Allen leaped into action stopping the Akuma in its track and pushing it back with his broad sword. However the Akuma's rage made it almost impossible to stop. It blasted and punched, forcing Allen to retreat. Several small cuts appeared where he wasn't quick enough to dodge the Akuma's strikes. 

He noticed Lavi trying to help but was intercepted by Road who gave a small laugh and summoned lit candles out of nowhere. Allen made a desperate swing at the Akuma that caught its shoulder and slammed it to the ground. Before he could press his advantage the Akuma screamed a more terrible scream than any Allen had heard. He was forced to shut his eyes and put his hands over his ears, dropping his sword, to dull the piercing sound. When he looked up he only had time to process a large purple orb above his head when the world dissolved into black.

Allen blinked his eyes open sluggishly, the only thing he really registered was everything hurt.

His head throbbed, his legs felt heavy and one was bent oddly, his remaining right arm bled freely sending waves of searing pain up and down his side, plus everything he saw seemed to swim in and out of focus like he was staring at a reflection in a well. Allen gasped and blinked trying to being the world into focus. What he did see clearly alarmed him.

The Akuma's face inches from his trapping his body against the hard rock underneath. That was when he noticed where he rested. A giant crater at least 50 foot deep and 100 feet long where the clearing use to be. The combating Noah and Exorcists had been forced out of the area from the blast. From the blurry corners of his vision Allen saw Lavi and Lenalee try to reach him but the Noah family was having none of it. 

"It's over exorcist." The Akuma cried gleefully. Allen growled in fury trying to find a way to fight, to move. The only thing he saw was his Sword of Exorcist buried deep into the soil opposite of him. Closing his eyes and concentrating he tried to pull his Innocence towards him. He imagined it as an extension of himself calling his arm back to its rightful place. When he opened his eyes the sword was spinning towards him gaining speed, and the Akuma distracted by its prey, hadn't noticed.

A squelching sound was the only warning the Level 4 got before a broad sword pierced it straight through the chest and into Allen's own torso. The black eyes widened in shock.

"You've doomed yourself too exorcist." The Akuma choked out.

"This sword only purifies Akuma and Noah, it won't harm me."

"Really?" The Akuma said a maniacal grin splitting its face. "Then why are you in such pain?" That's when everything burst into flames. The agony was all consuming wrenching away conscious thought and leaving only the sensation of being ripped apart. Allen was sure white hot daggers were ripping every inch of skin and burning lead had filled his innards.

A dreadful scream tore from his lips ripping his throat but did nothing to alleviate the all-consuming pain.

If only it would just stop.

If only he could die.

Everything went dark.

* * *

A blinding explosion forced Katniss's eyes shut. Even inside the barrier of golden light and spinning clocks the explosion shook the ground and sent Katniss to the ground. Johanna had joined her moments before the fighting started and was now cursing fluently as she regained her balance but what she saw made her freeze. Katniss followed her gaze and saw that the clearing where Allen had been fighting the Akuma was now a jagged crater.

And there was no Allen.

"The Fu," Johanna started

"Where is Allen?" Katniss cut her off.

"He's okay. He's gonna be okay." The dark haired women who had introduced herself as Miranda said shakily but her eyes were swimming with unshed tears. Johanna looked miffed but narrowed her eyes as the smoke from the blast cleared.

That's when Katniss spotted a small pale figure laying unmoving on one side of the chasm and a glittering sword all the way on the other side. The childlike monster floated above the exorcist smiling in victory. Katniss felt an irrational urge to run out of the protective barrier but knew that there was nothing she could do.

The battle came to an eeries standstill as friend and foe alike observed the dew devleopment. Suddenly the sword almost 100 feet on the other side of the crater started to shake, rising from the dirt and spin towards the Akuma. To her horror the giant sword stabbed the monster straight through its chest but also right through Allen's own.

"See Allen-kun always pulls through." Miranda smiled.

"How is that pulling through? The idiot just stabbed himself!" Johanna screamed.

"Crown Clown's sword only purifies Noah and Akuma. Allen is an exorcist, he'll be fine."

Katniss was ready to believe her, at this point it wouldn't have been the weirdest thing she encountered, if not for the agonized scream that sounded from the crater. Miranda's face bleached of all color. Shaking hands reached up to cover her mouth.

"That's not possible." Allen coughed violently and even from a distance Katniss could see startling amounts of crimson liquid spray across the Earth. The horrible cry carried over the din of battle rooting every living thing in place. Katniss's insides twisted and squirmed as miserable and tormented cry ripped apart the night air.

She closed her eyes and cradled her head with her hands trying to shut out the scream but it echoed in the clearing until she was sure he must have run out of breath. 

Eerie silence.

There was no screaming anymore.

When Katniss opened her eyes and raised her head not a soul had moved. Weapons hung forgotten at their master's sides. Miranda shook with silent sobs and Johanna had an ugly scowl on her face. The motionless figure on the ground stirred and raised his head to speak to the Akuma. In the pristine silence of the night Katniss heard two words.

"Good morning." Allen smiled, eyes lacking all warmth that she had come to associate with the boy. 

"Noa." The Akuma's horrified cry was cut short.

Allen pulled out his sword and sliced the Akuma clean in half. A small explosion stained the ground with poisonous black blood. Allen glared down at the corpse before reattaching the sword to his body. Katniss didn't care anymore, she ran out of the glowing dome of protection towards the destruction. No one tried to stop her. As she neared Katniss knew something was terribly wrong.

The way Allen was smiling, the way he was walking with a limp in his right leg that looked bloodied and broken yet didn't seem to care about the pain. One of the Noah, a little girl slipped off a…pink umbrella? Landing gently on the rocky ground.

"Millenie?" She questioned in a soft singsong voice. The giant pudgy man with small glinting glasses and an ear to ear grin started to cry. Katniss felt petrified as the pudgy man, whom she guessed was the Millennium Earl Allen had described to her, floated down and walked towards Allen.

Soon they were nose to nose Allen smiling pleasantly in the man's face while the tears stopped abruptly for the larger of the duo. In one swift movement the Millennium Earl grabbed Allen's throat and pinned him to the ground.

"Allen!" She shouted on instinct but the exorcist gave no response that he had heard her.

"14th." The Millennium Earl hissed in Allen's ear. The other Noah's eyes widened in shock. Despite being pinned down by the throat Allen didn't seemed concerned. In fact he spoke back quite calmly.

"I knew you would come find me brother." His voice was soft and low, almost melancholy. 

"Allen! Allen what are talking about?" She tried calling out to him. He wasn't making sense. Nothing made sense. The atmosphere congealed into a heavy blanket as every Noah tensed. Their weapons hefted just a little higher with their undivided attention on the odd pair. Katniss flinched when Allen suddenly reared up and practically butted heads with the Earl.

"I'll kill you this time. I'll kill you and become the Millennium Earl." A feral grin shadowed Allen's pale face and that's when Katniss knew whoever it was in Allen's body it wasn't the young exorcist she trusted and knew. It was something else, someone else.

"Is that your wish?" The Earl inquired. The young exorcist's face twisted. 

"No!...no" Allen's voice was strained but once more his. He grabbed his head convulsively to curl in on himself. Katniss had seen terrible things in the arena but it still made her gut clench as Allen coughed up blood, a pain scream barely chocked back as his finger dug into the soft silver strands. 

"I'm not the 14th." He managed to gasp. The other Noah watched in frozen fascination.

"AND KEEP ME OUT OF YOUR DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY SPATS!"Allen suddenly cried rearing up from the ground again practically blowing the Earl away with the force of his shout. "IT'S REALLY ANNOYING!" Katniss could almost see the Noah shrink with each syllable. Despite the scratches and trails of blood that covers the young Exorcists' face he emitted a terrifying aura of determination.

"I'm Allen Walker, an Exorcist! I'll never become anything else." It was as if his words were physical blows stunning all the Noah. Katniss heard a distinct "Che." Behind her and it didn't take too much of an imagination to figure out whom it came from. Katniss was ready to jog back to Miranda's Time-Out but realized that she couldn't move. It was as if her legs were drowned in cement.

"What in the world?" Katniss cried and this time Allen noticed her.

"Katniss! What are you doing here? Get back to Miranda."

"I'm afraid she can't." One of the Noah said.

"What did you do Sheryl?" Allen growled the dangerous edge to his voice returned.

"Nothing! But you should know that my power is to control human bodies. I can make anyone my puppet. Do whatever I please." He paused. "Even kill them without ever touching them." He smiled as if the idea was amusing. "But don't worry I wouldn't actually kill anyone that way. It's too boring!" He cried. Allen deadpanned.

"Perverts. All the Noah are perverts."

"Hey!" All the Noah cried with the exception of Road and the Earl.

"That's hardly fair Shounen." The Noah that spoke was a tall individual with long tied back hair and a scar on his chest and arm. She cursed the off task part of herself for noticing that the Noah would have been rather attractive, if it weren't for the fact that the whole lot of them were trying to kill her and her friends.

"Um Me?" Katniss tried to draw attention back to the fact that she was likely to be killed.

"Tsk what do you want?" Allen asked Sheryl, clearly annoyed.

"Just for you to come with us." Allen narrowed his eyes.

"No." He said simply.

"But this girl is gonna die! Don't you want to save her?" Sheryl asked genuinely surprised.

"You're probably gonna kill her anyway." Allen retorted coolly. She had thought Allen the overly protective and caring type who wasn't willing to sacrifice anyone. Perhaps she had been wrong. A part of her grudgingly acknolwege that maybe Allen would have survived the Hunger Games after all.

"Plus!" Allen added cheerfully. "We're about to get her back anyway!" The grouchy guy with long hair suddenly lashed out at Sheryl, causing him to lose concentration. Katniss found herself free to move once more. She sprinted for her live back to the safe haven of swirling clocks. 

Everything erupted into pandemonium.

* * *

The 14th's little stunt with taking over his body shook Allen to the core. His heart pounded a little louder and the blood roared in his ear as he charged at the Millennium Earl himself. He focused on the feeling of his sword's hilt against his palms as his arm strained with the pain of hefting his weapon once more. The only good thing that came out of the 14th taking his body for a stroll was the Noah's freaskish ability to heal seemed to give him back some of his former mobility.

Even with some of his wounds healed Allen was tiring. The Hunger Games weren't really ideal for one's health and even though the lightning that should have struck the lightning tree at midnight hadn't come, Allen knew he had been fighting for over an hour. He wondered vaguely what the Capitol was doing to cover this battle up.

Katniss's alliance was the only group of tributes left but they certainly couldn't show the hoard of Noah and exorcist that came through the ark door. At the same time Allen doubted even the Capitol audience would go for "Hey take a look at this pretty bush over here while we cover up some inter-dimensional war that we can't show you."

The Earl transformed Lero into his own broadsword and pushed back at Allen with amazing force. Allen focused back to his fight. He couldn't overpower the Earl with raw strengh, and he couldn't make it a battle of attrition. Dirty and quick it was then. He feinted to the left, swirling Crown Clown's cloak to obscure the Ear's vision before sweeping right under his opponent and leaping up behind him. Before Allen could bring his Innocence roundhouse for a back blow a gloved hand caught his abdomen, pushing him back with enough force to bring blood to his lips. Tyki smiled, entirely unapologetically. 

His side burned and throbbed clouding his visions with intermittent clouds of red.

"You're being too rough with my Allen." Road commented as she held off Lenalee who had switched opponents and left Lavi to keep Lulubell at bay. Tyki shrugged. Refusing to stay down he sprung up, kicking Tyki in the face before the Noah could negate Allen with his powers. Using the surprised Noah as a spring board Allen swung his broad sword back around towards the Earl only to have it intercepted by the Earl's own weapon.

"Tsk." He muttered in irritation. A pained cry drew Allen's attention away from his own battle.

"Moyashi!" Kanda shouted his Katana blocking Sheryl from advancing on Krory who was on the ground holding his right leg twisted at an odd angle.

"The name's Allen!" He shouted back on instinct. Krory looked bloodied and haggard. He probably could still fight, he was a exorcist after all, but he couldn't hold off the advance of a Noah on his own. That meant the Exorcists were outmatched.

"Get him to Miranda!"

"I'm not your errand boy." Kanda growled back. Holding back a growl of his own, Allen flipped away from the Earl and Tyki, narrowly evading the tip of the Earl's broadsword. Kanda never missed a step. As soon as Allen retreated back he took over the fight pushing Tyki away and keeping the Earl's focus off Allen. Reaching Krory and Sheryl he drew his sword in a wide arc forcing Sheryl back, lifting Krory on his shoulder. Without further delay Allen jumped several yards away into the protective sphere of Miranda's innocence.

"Is he ok?" Miranda sounded distressed.

"Krory will be fine, he's pulled through worse." Allen tried to reassure her. "Just take care of him for a couple minutes okay?"

"You should stay for a bit too!" Miranda tried to keep Allen but he shook his head.

"I'm needed out there. There are too many Noah for us all to take a break right now."

"I'm so sorry Allen. It's all my fault I should have been more careful." Krory sounded miserable.

"Hey don't be ridiculous. You did your best and we're family right? Family looks out for each other." Allen said firmly flashing a quick smile.

"Come back alive." Katniss commanded. Allen blinked, surprised by the fierceness of the girl's statement. The girl looked surprised at herself too, but he managed a cheerful, 

"Yes mam!" before leaping back into the fray, slashing at Sheryl as the pissed Noah made a move towards him. Kanda flashed past his vision and switched with him, attacking Sheryl with renewed ferocity and allowing Allen to block the fierce blow from the nonplussed Earl. He could see the other exorcist grow weary. Road was still barely engaged in the fighting, sitting calmly in a low tree branch not too far away firing volleys of razor sharp candles at Lavi who blocked them with his hammer, burned them away with fire stamps, or just outran them.

Road was just playing. Allen had been her truly angry only once before and it was an experience he didn't wish to repeat. Lenalee kicked at Lulubell with earthshaking force but the female Noah hardly flinched at the impact. Kanda slashed wildly with his katana, a wild glint in his eyes as he forced Sheryl to retreat away from the clearing. That left Allen with the Earl and Tyki.

"You will never be able to return to your precious order." Tyki drawled. Allen frowned but didn't reduce the force of his blows as he knocked away the Earl's sword with a round house kick and slashed the broadsword at Tyki's chest.

The Earl used the momentum from his sword, bringing it around in a full circle catching Allen's side when he was deflecting the giant purple butterflies that formed in Tyki's hands. Allen found himself on the ground once again. He had practically lost track how many times he had found his face centimeters from the ground while cuts, bruises, and breaks burned his battered body.

"The 14th has awakened. What do you think the Order will have to say about a Noah in their midst?" Tyki continued. "You don't have any options Shounen." He sounded almost sympathetic. Allen gritted his teeth.

"You're wrong." He breathed softly. Tyki raised a quizzical eyebrow kneeling down to get closer to Allen. The Earl stood resolutely silent.

"They're my family." Allen's whisper could barely be heard over the clangs and cries of battle but the keen hearing of the Noah picked it up. "No matter what happens they always will be my family." Allen said this time louder. He shifted his gaze to the sky where the ark door was still present, a purple streak across the artificial sky. A idea formed in his head.

"And I will  _never_ betray my family." With a burst of strength Allen swung his sword with all his might in an arc while willing his cloak of Innocence to shoot out, the resulting blast of energy blew the Noah off their feet. 

Facing the sky Allen closed his eyes and called the song of the 14th into is mind. Never in his life had he been so desperate to feel the flow of energy that surrounded him when an Ark door opened. The Earl had been able to find him through the Level 4. The Ark doorway should lead to the world Allen belonged to. He focused with all his strength on opening a doorway just overlapping the Noah's Ark but with a different destination, a doorway leading directly to the Black Order.

A tingling sensation crawled over his skin and a resounding headache seemed to build trying to crush his skull, but Allen didn't dare stop. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and looked up into the sky. At first there was nothing. Inky black sky with the purple gate of the Noah but a small sliver of white cut through the sky. The sliver expanded glowing with light until a full sized Ark door appeared right behind the Noah's own door.

But there was something Allen didn't count on. The Ark door appeared right where the artificial sky must have been. A massive explosion burst across the sky. The force shook Allen's teeth. Everyone looked up at what use to be inky night. Hexagon panels rained down in fiery meteors. The bushes rustled only a few feet away from Allen where the forest hadn't been destroyed by the force of their fight.

"What in the world! Allen what is happening?" Peeta came stumbling into the clearing with Beetee close behind and Finnick shouting indignant protest with Mags on his back. Peeta froze as he took in the devastation that greeted him.

"What happened to you?" Allen smiled sheepishly not really wanting to think about how terrible he must have looked with his torn clothes and bloodied body.

"Uh family dispute?" he replied lamely.

Allen leaped to the side as a chunk of hexagon tried to crush him. To his delight Lulubell's giant liquid body couldn't avoid all the falling debris and she was forced to revert to her normal human form. Taking adventage of the confusion Miranda dispelled her Time-Out clearly exhausted from keeping her Innocence active for so long and joined Allen with Katniss and Johanna supporting Krory as the other exorcist leaped to their side.

"Did you open a Ark door?" Lavi looked up astonished at the glowing white door that flared to life where the arena ceiling had been before.

"Yep."

"How…"

"No idea. Didn't work before but I just used the Earl's Ark as a sort of anchor to make an entrance."

"Does it lead to the Order?"

"Umm hopefully?"

"You don't sound very sure." The redhead smiled at his friend.

"Che."

"You've got a problem with me Bakanda?"

"Oh Don't start again you two." Johanna interrupted. Finnick and Peeta looked at the battle field, completely perplexed.

Allen had to admit with the new crater, completely blasted away forest, battered exorcists, and grey skinned Noah starting to regroup it must have been one of the most bizarre scenes his companions from Panem had ever walked in on. The Noah glared resentfully at Allen. Clearly annoyed with the debris he brought raining down on the battlefield and the means of escape he just provided.

"Look Katniss we have to go." Allen said keeping his voice low but urgent. "If we retreat back to the Order we can rest and the Noah will have no reason to stay." A buzzing noise filled the air and Allen looked up to see a Capitol hovercraft like that one he boarded to reach the arena.

"Damn it. The Capitol." Katniss cursed under her breath. Without warning Johanna pulled out a knife she stored in her back pocket and plunged it into Katniss's right forearm. Katniss cried out in pain.

"What are you doing!" Peeta and Allen shouted at the same time. Before Allen could grab Johanna and stop her attack the angry brunette locked her gaze with his.

"Trust me." Her eyes were fierce but not malicious. Finnick brought out a small knife and expertly cut Peeta's forearm too. Allen blinked in realization as Johanna and Finnick picked out the small trackers planted on them at the beginning of the Games. Johanna extracted her own tracker with a grimace of pain and Finnick after cutting out Mags with considerably more caution removed his own.

"That's our own cue to leave." Finnick winked. Confused but relenting, Allen nodded. There was a war brewing in Panem and he knew Katniss was at its center and Allen had his own war that was already raging.

"Brilliant plan Allen." Lavi grunted as he slammed his hammer down sending two fiery snakes coursing threw the Noah.

Tyki passed through the flames by simply "choosing" not to touch it, crossed the barrier and Allen had to quickly shred hundreds of Tease with his Crown Clown.

"But we can't fly." Lavi noted. "Well Lenalee can." He amended. "How are we going to get up there? I can use my hammer and take maybe Miranda, and maybe Lenalee can take Krory what about you two?"

"We could always just leave Kanda here." Allen noted almost cheerfully. A Katana leveled itself at Allen's throat. Just then a golden ball darted from the forest and rested in Allen's palm.

"TIM!" Allen exclaimed a smile of true joy crossing his face. "I was getting worried." The Golem nuzzled its master's face. Suddenly Timcanpy grew in size until he was larger than a horse and could easily fit two people on its back.

"Guess that solves our problem." Lavi said gazing dumbfounded at the golem his Bookman's brain running trying to analyze the Golem's change in size. The Noah broke through the wall of flames and, with the exception of Road who hung back, all charged with murderous intent. Allen grabbed Johanna and Katniss dashing out of the way and kicking Sheryl's head as he passed.

Lenalee grabbed Peeta while Lavi enlarged his hammer to defend Finnick and Mags.

"Bad." Mags narrated helpfully. A ladder descended from the hovercraft.

"Good!" Mags exclaimed. Johanna started climbing along with Finnick, Mags clinging tightly to his back.

"Come on!" Johanna shouted in her blazing tone. Cradling their bloodied arms Katniss and Peeta started climbing the ladder. Allen flared his cloak out protecting his friend's ascent. 

"GO!" He cried. Lenalee grabbed Krory who was looking worse after Time-Out was deactivated and his injuries returned. She looked back reluctantly but leapt high into the air avoiding the still falling debris and entering safely through the white Ark door.

Lavi extended his hammer with Miranda secured behind him.

Tyki and Lulubell tried to prevent the exorcist from escaping while the Earl still drew himself towards Allen. Kanda expertly ducked under Tyki's blow and slashed a shallow cut in Sheryl's shoulder. Allen got on Tim, soon Kanda joined him. They were halfway to the door when a wave of bullets intercepted them forcing Timcanpy to do some creative maneuvering.

Kanda followed with some creative cursing as he sliced the incoming bullets clean in half with his katana. Five Capitol hovercrafts were closing the distance between them fast.

"They're heading for Katniss." Allen realized. Kanda activating his second Illusion sending two crescent blades of energy at the Noah. Sheryl and Tyki smiled and simply spun out of the way while the Earl sliced clean through with his broadsword. If Kanda could hold off the Noah, Allen needed to take out the hoverscraft or Katniss would never make it. 

Leaping off Timcanpy Allen landed on the first of the five hovercrafts. He drove his broadsword into its glowing blue engine and shot a javelin of Innocence into the wings of another before jumping to a third. The transports sputtered and blew out smoke before hurtling towards the arena floor. One smashed into the forest flattening anther section of trees while the other spun until it collided with the Cornucopia.

"Moyashi!" Kanda called to him. Allen could see even Kanda was having trouble holding off four Noah on his own while keeping airborne on Tim.

Cursing the bad timing Allen quickly drove his sword into the third hovercrafts' engine reattaching his arm and shooting Crown Belt at another hovercraft turning to fire at him. The third craft fell out of the sky spinning like a top while Allen swung underneath the gunfire of the fourth transport and drawing his long claws through the metal like it was made of cheese.

Before the fourth craft started to slowly but surely loose altitude Allen swung himself to the last airborne contraption. Behind him a shockwave ripped the air as Kanda's Mugen Triple allusion clashed with the Millennium Earl.

"Moyashi!" Kanda growled with more urgency his gaze promising a fate worse than death if Allen didn't stop dawdling.

"Coming Bakanda!" Allen invoked Edge End and made quick work of the last hovercraft. Timcanpy flew beneath the falling craft to allow Allen to land on the Golem's back. The golden orb flapped his now giant wings making a fast approach to the Ark door. 

The Earl was right behind them and gaining. He was going to catch them. His heart pounding Allen drew his Sword of Exorcism and used Tim as a launch pad to drive himself towards the Earl. Their swords clashed in midair

"This isn't over." The Earl promised inches from his face.

"Far from it." Allen pushed as hard he could, riding the repulsive force towards the Ark's door. His vision was filled with a familiar white light. Allen closed his eyes and intoned the melancholy melody of the 14th calling for the connection between the Order and Panem to be severed forever.

Allen was leaving behind his new friends but he velieved they would find their way through their war. Katniss would pave their own path of victory as Allen would continue paving his own destiny.

Maybe the 14th did want to take over his body and maybe the Noah were all gathered and amassing a overwhelming force of Akuma but all he needed to know was he was Allen Walker and he would keep walking, keep finding a way to move forward in life.

The white light faded into thee anxious faces of his friends, of his family. Their expressions slowly breaking into relief and delight. Cheers and joyful faces greeted him as Johnny, Reever, Komui and others of the science division all celebrated the Exorcist's return. 

"I'm home."

"…Welcome back."

**THE END**


End file.
